Medical Word Building

-ectomy

What does -ectomy mean?

A common medical word part meaning “surgical removal”. It can help decode unfamiliar terminology.

Useful context: The full medical word can have a more specific meaning than the word part alone.

U.S. National Library of Medicine
Understanding Medical Words ↗ National Cancer Institute
Cancer Terms Dictionary ↗ CDC
Vaccine Glossary ↗

This is a plain-language Healthway explanation, not an individual diagnosis. The meaning of a term can change with the clinical context in which it appears.