English
thyrotomy
Thyrotomy comes from Ancient Greek τέμνω ‘to cut’, and goes back to 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’
- Englishtodaythyrotomy2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνω
- 2 Wiktionary, English thyrotomy
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 thyrotomytémnō‘to cut’
- EnglishtodaythyrotomyWiktionary, English thyrotomy
A compound of thyro- + -tomy
Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’
…
Ancient Greek εἶδος
Ancient Greek θῠρεοειδής ‘Shield-shaped’
New Latin thyreoīdēs
English thyroid
English thyro-
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’
contempt, templar, tempestuous, 34 more
through Ancient Greek τέμνω ‘to cut’
Today it means
noun An incision into the thyroid cartilage.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “thyrotomy”; 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- / thyrotomy