English
thyroidectomy
Thyroidectomy comes from Ancient Greek ἐκτομή ‘a cutting out’, from ἐκτέμνω ‘to cut down trees, fell, cut to shape’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *temh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-1‘to cut’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tm̥-né-h₁-ti1reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέμνω2témnō‘to cut’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐκτέμνω2ektémnō‘to cut down trees, fell, cut to shape’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐκτομή2ektomḗ‘a cutting out’
- Englishtodaythyroidectomy2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνω
- 2 Wiktionary, English thyroidectomy
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνω‘to cut’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tm̥-né-h₁-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνωreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέμνωWiktionary, English thyroidectomytémnō‘to cut’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐκτέμνωWiktionary, English thyroidectomyektémnō‘to cut down trees, fell, cut to shape’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐκτομήWiktionary, English thyroidectomyektomḗ‘a cutting out’
- EnglishtodaythyroidectomyWiktionary, English thyroidectomy
A compound of thyroid + -ectomy
Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer- ‘door’
…
Ancient Greek θῠ́ρᾱ ‘door’
Ancient Greek θῠρεός ‘an oblong shield’
Ancient Greek θῠρεοειδής ‘shield-shaped’
New Latin thyreoīdēs ‘Shaped like a shield’
English thyroid
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’
contempt, templar, tempestuous, 34 more
through Ancient Greek τέμνω ‘to cut’
Today it means
noun The surgical removal of part or all of the thyroid gland.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “thyroidectomy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek τέμνω. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- / thyroidectomy