Keratomileusis

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌkɛɹətəʊmaɪˈl(j)uːsɪs/

Definitions

1. A surgical method for correcting vision by modifying the cornea through the excision and manipulation of corneal tissue to achieve improved eyesight
2. This procedure reshapes the eye’s cornea using surgical techniques to enhance visual clarity and reduce reliance on glasses or contacts
3. A surgical operation involving removal and reshaping of corneal tissue to improve vision quality

Etymology: Keratomileusis is a modern coinage, not an ancient word. In 1963 the Spanish ophthalmologist José Barraquer devised the term for his technique of reshaping the cornea by removing a lens-shaped disc of tissue, and he built it entirely from Ancient Greek parts. "Kéras" means "horn," the Greek root behind "kerato-," the prefix used for the cornea, the clear dome at the front of the eye. "Smíleusis" means "carving," from the verb "smílein," to carve or cut. Put together, the name literally describes carving the horn of the eye. The term passed into English from Spanish, where Barraquer's coinage had been made, so the Greek roots arrived in English by way of a 20th-century medical invention rather than through the classical texts that gave us most scientific vocabulary. Barraquer's name is also the reason the procedure is known by this long word at all: it was his label for a method he had developed, and it spread with the technique.