Neurotomy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surgical procedure involving the dissection of nerve tissue for therapeutic purposes
2. the act of cutting into a nerve to alleviate pain or treat conditions
3. a method employed in neurosurgery to modify nerve function or structure

Etymology: Ancient Greek "neuron" originally meant a sinew, tendon or cord, not a nerve in the modern sense. Anatomists in classical times used the word loosely for anything stringy that bound the body together, and only later did it narrow to the fibres that carry signals. The modern medical vocabulary built on it draws on that older sense. "Neurotomy" is a plain compound, formed from "neuro-", the combining form of "neuron", and "-tomy", from Greek "temnein", "to cut". Combined, the pieces describe cutting into nerves, and the term names the surgical procedure itself. Its coinage belongs to modern medicine, so the Greeks who first used "neuron" would not have recognised the word.