Adenoidectomy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surgical intervention that entails the removal of lymphatic tissue situated behind the nasal passage
2. A surgical operation that involves excising the adenoids, which are lymphatic tissues at the back of the nasal cavity, to alleviate breathing difficulties and recurrent infections
3. A medical procedure involving the excision of swollen lymphatic tissue located behind the nasal cavity to improve airway function

Etymology: Adenoidectomy is a plain technical compound: "adenoid" joined to the suffix "-ectomy". The suffix comes from Ancient Greek "ektomḗ", a noun built from "ek-", meaning "out", and "témnō", "to cut", so it literally means a cutting out. Surgeons used "-ectomy" to name operations that remove a body part, and it became a productive suffix in medical English. "Adenoid" has its own Greek ancestry, from "adēn", meaning gland, with the suffix "-oid" meaning "resembling". The adenoids are the lymphatic tissue sitting behind the nose, so the operation's name spells out exactly what is done: a cutting out of the gland-like tissue.