Tonsillotomy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The surgical excision of the tonsils, the pair of lymphoid tissue masses at the back of the throat
2. An operation that cuts out the tonsils, usually performed to treat recurrent infection or obstruction of the airway
3. Removal of the palatine tonsils by surgical means, often carried out on children with chronic tonsillitis

Etymology: The word is built from "tonsil" and the combining element "-tomy," and the second part carries the surgery's meaning. "-tomy" comes from Ancient Greek "témnō," meaning "to cut," which gave English a whole family of surgical terms ending in the same way. The "-o-" that joins the two parts is a linking vowel of the kind used in scientific Greek and Latin compounds, so the word reads as "tonsil-cutting." The tonsil itself is a small mass of lymphatic tissue at the back of the throat, and the English name for it is an older borrowing from Latin "tonsilla," used for these glands. Putting the two together gives a plain, literal description of the procedure: the surgical removal of the tonsils. Because the word was assembled from classical parts, it describes the operation exactly rather than carrying any older sense of its own.