Colposcopy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A medical procedure in which a doctor uses a magnifying instrument to closely examine the cervix and the tissue lining the vagina
2. An examination of the cervix carried out with a special illuminated magnifying device to look for abnormal cells or lesions
3. A close visual inspection of the cervix and surrounding tissue through a lighted magnifying instrument, usually after an abnormal screening result

Etymology: Colposcopy is a compound built in modern times from two Greek elements. The first, "kolpos" in ancient Greek, meant a fold or bosom, the hollow of a garment or the bay of a sea, and in English medical use "colpo-" has come to mean the vagina. The second element, "-scopy," comes from "skopein," to look at or examine, the same root behind "microscope" and "telescope." Put together, the name describes looking into the vaginal region with a magnifying instrument. The Greek roots are ancient, but nobody in antiquity used the compound itself. The word was coined in English as a technical term once the magnifying instrument existed, and it names a procedure rather than an old concept. The "-scopy" suffix follows the same pattern as "endoscopy" and "laryngoscopy," where classical Greek parts were assembled to name new medical examinations.