Curettage

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˌkjʊəɹɪˈtɑːʒ/

Definitions

1. A medical technique that involves the scraping of tissue to eliminate abnormal growths or gather samples for diagnostic analysis
2. This procedure utilizes a specific tool to clean or extract tissues from a body cavity, commonly for therapeutic or investigative purposes
3. A surgical procedure that involves the scraping of tissue for the removal of growths or the collection of specimens for examination and diagnosis

Etymology: "Curettage" comes from the French "curetage," which is built on "curer," meaning "to clean" or "to scrape clean." That French verb descends from Latin "curare," "to take care of," the same root behind English "cure" and "curate." The shared root is a neat reminder that caring for something and cleaning it were once close neighbours in meaning. The French noun names the act performed with a "curette," the small scraping instrument from which the procedure takes its name. The English word was borrowed directly from French, so the surgical sense arrived with its French spelling and shape largely intact.