*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of -tomy

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Ancient Greek τέμνω (témnō)der. English -tomy From Ancient Greek τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”).

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
suffix

A division. · A surgical incision.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Ancient Greek τέμνω (témnō)der. English -tomy From Ancient Greek τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":der",
        "3": "grc:τέμνω",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *temh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *-né-\nAncient Greek τέμνω (témnō)der.\nEnglish -tomy\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"to cut\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*temh₁-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"id\" : \"nasal infix\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-né-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"τέμνω\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-tomy\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"-tomy\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*temh₁-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "τέμνω",
        "4": "",
        "5": "I cut"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":der",
        "3": "grc:τέμνω",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *temh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *-né-\nAncient Greek τέμνω (témnō)der.\nEnglish -tomy"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*temh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/temh₁-#Proto-Indo-European:_to_cut"
    ],
    [
      "*-né-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-né-#Proto-Indo-European:_nasal_infix"
    ],
    [
      "τέμνω",
      "τέμνω#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "τέμνω",
      "τέμνω#Ancient_Greek"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "A division.",
        "A surgical incision."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "recordId": "7b792e3dbb69b68532323bf68aa8e1f4ffcd5df9ff5edb9be6b23006f6d7ca58",
      "rawRecordSha256": "c5ca8f726bff489b41ce9d2698a278eba933f59f3d1a102d5207edddf45cee32",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2293760
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for -tomy →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-LXRvbXk