trepanation
noun/tɹɛpəˈneɪʃən/
Etymology From New Latin trepanatio, formed from French trépan (“a drill”), itself from Latin trepanum, ultimately from Ancient Greek τρύπανον (trúpanon, “an auger, a drill”).
1
The practice of drilling a hole in the skull as a physical, mental, or spiritual treatment.
- Creed had suffered […] a swelling to the brain that the tribe’s chief physic treated with trepanation.2022, Paul McAuley, Beyond the Burn Line, Gollancz, page 75:
- According to the doctors, Lula, 79, underwent a trepanation: having a 3cm hole made in the skull to insert a drain to remove the bleeding.2024 December 10, Tom Phillips, Tiago Rogero, “Brazilian president in intensive care after emergency brain surgery”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
- Synonyms
- trepanning, trephination, trephining
- Derived terms
- autotrepanation
- Related terms
- burr hole, craniotomy