Bilobectomy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of surgical operation that entails removing two separate lobes from an organ in the body
2. This medical procedure involves the excision of both lobes from a specific anatomical structure or gland
3. A surgical technique in which two distinct lobes of an organ are surgically removed from the body

Etymology: "Bilobectomy" is a compound built from two parts: the prefix "bi-", meaning "two" (from Latin "bis", "twice"), and "lobectomy", which itself combines "lobe" with the suffix "-ectomy" from Greek "ektomē", "a cutting out." A lobectomy is the surgical removal of a single lobe of an organ, most often the lung, so bilobectomy simply adds the "bi-" to mean the removal of two lobes. The arrangement of the parts is what makes the word transparent. "Lobe" traces back to Greek "lobos," meaning a rounded projection or the earlobe, and the same root gave English words for various rounded body parts. The "-ectomy" suffix follows the pattern of many medical procedure names, such as "appendectomy" and "mastectomy," which were built in modern medical English from classical Greek elements.