cautery
noun/ˈkɔːtəɹi/
Etymology From Latin cauterium (“branding iron”).
1
Medicine, Sciences, Surgery Usually The use of either extreme heat or extreme cold to either cut or seal body tissue.
- 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.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:
- Derived terms
- chemocautery, cryocautery, electrocautery, galvanocautery, microcautery, radiocautery, thermocautery