Uterectomies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surgical procedure involving the removal of the uterus from the female body
2. An operation that may be performed for various medical reasons including cancer or fibroids
3. A medical intervention that results in infertility by excising the organ responsible for carrying pregnancies

Etymology: "Uterectomies" is the plural of "uterectomy", the surgical removal of the uterus. The word is built from two parts: "utero-", from Latin "uterus", meaning womb, and "-ectomy", from Greek "ektomē", meaning a cutting out. The second element is the same one found in "appendectomy" and "tonsillectomy", so the pattern is a standard one in medical vocabulary. The "uter-" stem is the Latin word for the womb, which also gave English "uterine". The Latin "uterus" itself is a term whose origins are unclear, so the surgical sense rests on the two combined parts rather than on any older story.

Synonyms: hysterectomies