bdellatomy

English

Etymology

Irregularly formed as Ancient Greek βδέλλᾰ (bdélla, “leech”) + -tomy (from -τοµία (-toµía, “a cutting”); from τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”); the etymological spelling is bdellotomy.

Noun

bdellatomy (uncountable)

1. (archaic) The snipping off the tail of a leech engaged in sucking human blood, in order to let the blood run out of it and so increase its powers of drawing blood.