-tomy

American  

1. a combining form meaning “cutting, incision” of an organ, “excision” of an object, as specified by the initial element (appendectomy; lithotomy ); also occurring in abstract nouns corresponding to adjectives ending in -tomous (dichotomy ).

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-tomy British  

combining form

1. indicating a surgical cutting of a specified part or tissue

   lobotomy

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Usage

What does -tomy mean? The combining form -tomy used like a suffix has several meanings. In medical terms, it refers to “cutting,” usually in reference to the surgical incision into an organ but sometimes as part of the removal of an object from the body. The combining form -tomy is also occasionally used to form abstract nouns in reference to some type of “division,” as in dichotomy, "division into two parts."The combining form -tomy comes from the Greek -tomia, meaning “cutting,” which is based on the verb témnein, “to cut.”Related to -tomy are the combining forms -tome, -tomous, and tomo-. Also related to -tomy is -ectomy, which literally means “cutting out of” and specifically refers to the excision or removal of organs, as in a tonsillectomy. Learn more about -ectomy in our Words That Use article for the form. Also related to tómos is atom. What’s the big idea behind atoms and cutting? Find out in our Origin section for this term.

Etymology

Origin of -tomy

Representing Greek -tomia; -tome, -y ³