Lancet

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈlɑːn.sɪt/

Definitions

1. A small, sharp surgical knife with a double-edged pointed blade, typically used for making incisions or puncturing tissue
2. A double-edged surgical instrument designed for precise incisions and tissue punctures is known by a specific term
3. A pointed, sharp tool commonly utilized in surgeries for cutting and creating openings in various tissues is referred to as a particular knife

Etymology: The surgical lancet is a small knife that is, at heart, a little spear. It comes from Old French "lancete," a diminutive of "lance," the long pointed weapon, so the word literally means something like "little lance." The Middle English form "launcet" carried the same idea into English, and the tool was named for its shape: a slender blade with a sharp point, built for piercing rather than cutting. The word's shape has stayed remarkably close to its origin. Where a lance was a weapon for thrusting at a distance, the lancet kept the thrusting action but shrank it to the scale of the hand and the body, lancing boils and abscesses. The English word has kept the same tiny-weapon idea for centuries, even as the knives themselves have changed.

Synonyms: surgical knife, blade