vasectomy

V4A1S1E1C3T1O1M3Y4
/vəˈsɛktəmi/

noun

The surgical incision of all or part of the vas deferens as a means of male sterilization.

Less commonScrabble 19

Meanings

nounvasectomy (plural vasectomies)

plural vasectomies

  1. medicineThe surgical incision of all or part of the vas deferens as a means of male sterilization.

    The experimental vasectomy operation was performed under sodium pentobarbital (50 mg/kg body weight, i.p) anesthesia via a lower midabdominal incision as described elsewhere.

    2015 July 10, “Abnormal Accumulation of Collagen Type I Due to the Loss of Discoidin Domain Receptor 2 (Ddr2) Promotes Testicular Interstitial Dysfunction”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI
    2 more examples

    In fact, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., so many men sign up for vasectomies during March Madness that appointments reach “max capacity,” said Dr. Tobias S. Kohler, a urologist and men’s health expert at the medical center who has observed this phenomenon ever since he was an attending physician a decade ago.

    2019 March 28, Christina Caron, “Why Don’t More American Men Get Vasectomies?”, in The New York Times

    Middle-aged, married fathers make up the bulk of those who have gotten vasectomies, with less than two percent of unmarried men relying on vasectomy for contraception, according to one analysis of data between 2002 and 2015 by the Department of Health and Human Services.

    2022 August 12, Alisha Haridasani Gupta, “‘Snip Snip Hooray’: Vasectomies Among the Young and Child-Free May Be Rising”, in The New York Times

Origin

From vas- (“vas deferens”) + -ectomy (“surgery involving the excision or removal of a body part”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan vasectomia
  • vasectomiamale sterilization
Chinese Cantonese 輸精管切除術 /输精管切除术
  • 輸精管切除術 /输精管切除术 (syu¹ zing¹ gun² cit³ ceoi⁴ seot⁶)male sterilization
Chinese Mandarin 輸精管切除術 /输精管切除术
  • 輸精管切除術 /输精管切除术 (shūjīngguǎn qiēchúshù)male sterilization
Czech vasektomie
  • vasektomiemale sterilization
Danish vasektomi
  • vasektomimale sterilization
Dutch vasectomie
  • vasectomiemale sterilization
Esperanto vazektomio
  • vazektomiomale sterilization
Finnish vasektomia, siemenjohdinten katkaisu
  • vasektomiamale sterilization
  • siemenjohdinten katkaisumale sterilization
French vasectomie
  • vasectomiemale sterilization
German Vasektomie
  • Vasektomiemale sterilization
Greek αγγειεκτομή
  • αγγειεκτομή (angeiektomí)male sterilization
Irish vaiseachtóime
  • vaiseachtóimemale sterilization
Italian vasectomia
  • vasectomiamale sterilization
Japanese 精管切除術, パイプカット
  • 精管切除術 (seikan setsujojutsu)male sterilization
  • パイプカット (paipu katto)male sterilization
Lithuanian vazektomija
  • vazektomijamale sterilization
Māori pokanga aratātea
  • pokanga aratāteamale sterilization
Norwegian Bokmål vasektomi
  • vasektomimale sterilization
Polish wazektomia
  • wazektomiamale sterilization
Portuguese vasectomia
  • vasectomiamale sterilization
Russian вазэктоми́я
  • вазэктоми́я (vazɛktomíja)male sterilization
Slovak vazektómia
  • vazektómiamale sterilization
Spanish vasectomía
  • vasectomíamale sterilization
Swedish vasektomi
  • vasektomimale sterilization
Thai การทำหมันชาย
  • การทำหมันชาย (kaan-tham-man-chaai)male sterilization
Turkish vazektomi
  • vazektomimale sterilization
Ukrainian вазектомі́я
  • вазектомі́я (vazektomíja)male sterilization
Vietnamese thắt ống dẫn tinh
  • thắt ống dẫn tinhmale sterilization
Welsh fasdoriad, fasectomi
  • fasdoriadmale sterilization
  • fasectomimale sterilization

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with vasectomy

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

vasectomy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vasectomy

MLA

“vasectomy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vasectomy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vasectomy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vasectomy.

Source: vasectomy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.