cautery

English

Etymology

From Latin cauterium (“branding iron”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːtəɹi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

cautery (usually uncountable, plural cauteries)

1. (surgery) The use of either extreme heat or extreme cold to either cut or seal body tissue.
   • 1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 129:

     Modern doctors nod benignly at some of the remedies and principles in Bald's Leechbook, but none has a good word to say for bloodletting - nor for cautery, the other medieval method of balancing the humours.

2. (surgery) A device used for cutting or sealing body tissue. (clarification of this definition is needed)

Derived terms

• chemocautery
• cryocautery
• electrocautery
• galvanocautery
• microcautery
• radiocautery
• thermocautery

Translations

process of cutting or sealing body tissue with heat or cold

• Czech: kauterizace f
• French: cautérisation (fr) f
• Russian: прижига́ние (ru) n (prižigánije)
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: داغ (dag, dağ)

device used for cutting or sealing body tissue

• Czech: kauter m
• French: cautère (fr) m
• Italian: cauterio (it) m, (archaic) bottone (it) m
• Sicilian: busunettu (scn) m

See also

• cauterise
• cauterisation
• cauterant