Etymograph

English

tomomania

Tomomania comes from Ancient Greek τέμνω ‘I cut’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *temh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-1‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tm̥-né-h₁-ti1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέμνω2témnō‘I cut’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1929tomomania2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English tomomania
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1929, Plain Talk: “And we must not leave out tomomania, that delightful…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνω‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tm̥-né-h₁-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek τέμνωreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέμνωWiktionary, English tomomaniatémnō‘I cut’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1929tomomaniaWiktionary, English tomomania. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1929, Plain Talk: “And we must not leave out tomomania, that delightful…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’

contempt, templar, tempestuous, 34 more

through Ancient Greek τέμνω ‘I cut’

atom, epitome, tome, dichotomous, toma, 30 more

Today it means

noun A morbid addiction to performing or undergoing surgery.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tomomania”; 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- / tomomania

Shirt and support for this word