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• seton
  seton

  noun

  a thread or the like inserted beneath the skin to provide drainage or to guide subsequent passage of a tube.
• Seton
  Seton

  noun

  Saint Elizabeth Ann (Bayley) Mother Seton, 1774–1821, U.S. educator, social-welfare reformer, and religious leader: first native-born American to be canonized (1975).

seton

¹ American  

[seet-n] / ˈsit n /

noun

Surgery.

1. a thread or the like inserted beneath the skin to provide drainage or to guide subsequent passage of a tube.

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Seton ² American  

[seet-n] / ˈsit n /

noun

1. Saint Elizabeth Ann (Bayley) Mother Seton, 1774–1821, U.S. educator, social-welfare reformer, and religious leader: first native-born American to be canonized (1975).

2. Ernest Thompson, 1860–1946, English writer and illustrator in the U.S.

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Seton British  

/ ˈsiːtən /

noun

1. Ernest Thompson. 1860–1946, US author and illustrator of animal books, born in England

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Etymology

Origin of seton

1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin sētōn- (stem of sētō ), equivalent to sēt ( a ) seta + -ōn- noun suffix

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

seton Seton

If the tumor comes to a head, open it near the bottom with a lancet; or place a seton in it so as to admit the escape of purulent matter.

From Domestic Animals History and description of the horse, mule, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry and farm dogs; with directions for their management, breeding, crossing, rearing, feeding, and preparation for a profitable market; also their diseases and remedies. Together with full directions for the management of the dairy. by Richard L. Allen

The whole discussion of goiter is manifestly a paraphrase of the similar chapter of Roger, who also introduced into surgical practice the use of the seton.

From Gilbertus Anglicus Medicine of the Thirteenth Century by Henry Ebenezer Handerson

A seton was inserted on each side of her neck.

From The Dog by William Youatt

Treatment.—A ganglion can usually be got rid of by a modification of the old-fashioned seton.

From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Alexis Thomson

A seton was worn in the side, and a little exercise on horseback taken three times every day, as strength would allow, during the whole progress.

From Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages Including a System of Vegetable Cookery by William A. (William Andrus) Alcott

A spokesperson for the Ascension Seton hospitals said in a statement, “When a patient experiences a serious or life-threatening condition during pregnancy, our clinicians provide medically indicated treatment, including treatment for an ectopic pregnancy.”

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

Thurman has an ongoing lawsuit against Ascension Seton Williamson and the other hospital, Ascension Seton Highland Lakes, for medical malpractice.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

Sila Chief Executive Michael Seton said the deal, expected to close in the second or third quarter, provides “significant and immediate realized benefit to our shareholders.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026

As the unfiltered Linda, Ms. Gangel might almost have been cast for her Hepburnesque, chisel-sharp cheekbones, but she brings wry humor to Linda’s half-serious, or mostly serious, critiques of the Seton ethos.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026

In case you don't live in New York, the Wicker Bar is in this sort of swanky hotel, the Seton Hotel.

From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger

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