Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “nephrectomy” come from?

Nephrectomy comes from Ancient Greek nephros meaning "kidney" combined with ektemnō meaning "to cut out," derived from temnō meaning "to cut," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁eǵʰs.

nephrectomy (English): The surgical removal of a kidney

Definitions

  1. The surgical removal of a kidney

Ancestry of “nephrectomy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishectomyAny operation involving surgical excision or...
2English-ectomyExcision of; Surgical removal of
3Ancient Greekἐκτομήa cutting out; a segment
4Ancient Greekἐκτέμνωto cut out; to castrate; to divide, zone
5Ancient GreekτέμνωI cut, hew; I maim, wound; I butcher, sacrifice
6Proto-Indo-European-né-Forms mostly transitive imperfective verbs from...

Words derived from “nephrectomy”

  • heminephrectomy
  • uninephrectomy
  • nephrectomize
  • nephrectomise
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -né- →