Catheterization

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A clinical technique that consists of placing a tubular device into a body structure for the purpose of drainage or administering treatments
2. A medical action that involves inserting a tube into anatomical passages to facilitate the removal of fluids or to deliver therapeutic agents
3. A medical procedure that entails the insertion of a flexible tube into a body cavity or vessel to enable fluid drainage or the introduction of medications

Etymology: Catheterization is a straightforward formation: it is "catheter" with the suffix "-ization" attached. The noun "catheter" came into English from Late Latin "catheter," which in turn came from Greek "kathetēr," a word meaning something lowered or inserted, built on "kathienai," "to send down." That sense of sending something down into the body is what the modern procedure still preserves. The suffix does most of the work of turning a device into an action. "-ize" entered English through Old French and Late Latin from Greek "-izein," a verb-making ending, and "-ation" is the familiar suffix for turning a verb into a noun of process. Joined together, "-ization" names the act of applying something, so catheterization describes the act of inserting a catheter.