Thrombendarteriectomy Definition
thrombendarteriectomy
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English
Alternative forms
Spelling variants
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Etymology
thromb- (“thrombus”) + end- (“inside”) + arteri- (“artery”) + -ectomy (“excision”)
Pronunciation
- (RP) enPR: thrŏmbĕn'därtî'rĭĕkʹtəmĭ, IPA: /θɹɒmˌbɛndɑːˌtɪəɹɪˈɛktəmɪ/, SAMPA: /Tr\Qm%bEndA:%tI@r\I"Ekt@mI/
Noun
thrombendarteriectomy (plural thrombendarteriectomies)
- (surgery) An operation to remove a thrombus and any diseased inner lining causing the obstruction of an artery.
Usage notes
- Thrombendarteriectomy is a morphologically interesting word. It is the product of the concatenation of three prefixes and one suffix, but is unusual in containing no interfixes; this is because the latter three of its constituent affixes all begin with vowels, thus making interfixes unnecessary. Nevertheless, there exist a number of spelling variants which do contain one or more of the Grecian interfix -o-; in every one of these cases, however, it is a superfluity. The most extreme example of this excess of interfixes is the rare form thromboendoarterioectomy, which interlards -o- alternately with each of the four affixes; it transforms an already lengthy octosyllable into an unnecessarily cumbersome hendecasyllable. Conversely, there also exist a number of spelling variants which have been overshortened by the omission of i from the stem of arteri-; in those cases, the i might have been misinterpreted as the Latinate interfix -i-. They are all etymologically incorrect. Finally, many of the variant spellings differ by hyphenation only, dividing thromb-, end-, or both from the rest of the word. In all but one case (the rare form thromb-endarterectomy), the hyphen follows an interfix. Perhaps the writers who spell it with one or more hyphen doubt the term’s wordhood, and treat the prefixes as merely modifying a word, rather than forming a new one. There is no reason to treat thrombendarteriectomy in this way; it is a word best written without the addition of unwarranted hyphens and interfixes, and with the stem of arteri- intact.
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