phlebotomy

/flɪˈbɒtəmi/

//flɪˈbɒtəmi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"phlebotomy" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“phlebotomy” is uncommon English (frequency #99,700 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,700
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The opening of a vein, either to withdraw blood or for letting blood; venesection.

Corpus desk

Index EN-phlebotomy · phlebotomy · English

phlebotomy · rank #99,700 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #99,700
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH phosphatidyli…

Nearest frequency peer: phosphatidylinositol (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “phlebotomy”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “phlebotomy” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for phlebotomy
PropertyValue
Headwordphlebotomy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/flɪˈbɒtəmi/
Letters10
Frequency rank#99,700
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “phlebotomy” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).phlebotomyfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “phosphatidylinositol” (#99,701), “PHEV” (#99,698), “pianissimo” (#99,702). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “phlebotomy” is #99,700. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

phlebotomy is uncommon English at frequency #99,700 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /flɪˈbɒtəmi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The opening of a vein, either to withdraw blood or for letting blood; venesection.".

phlebotomy has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French flebothomie (French phlébotomie), from Late Latin phlebotomia, from Ancient Greek φλεβοτόμος (phlebotómos, “that opens a vein”), from φλέψ (phléps, “vein”). By surface analysis, phlebo- + -tomy. The correct English form is phlebotomy, spelled P-H-L-E-B-O-T-O-M-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The opening of a vein, either to withdraw blood or for letting blood; venesection.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how phlebotomy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Now butter with a leafe of Sage is good to Parge the bloud, Fly Venus and Phlebotomy for they are neither good.
  2. Phlebotomy is promiscuously used before and after physick, commonly before and upon occasion is often reiterated, if there be any need at least of it.

Etymology

From Old French flebothomie (French phlébotomie), from Late Latin phlebotomia, from Ancient Greek φλεβοτόμος (phlebotómos, “that opens a vein”), from φλέψ (phléps, “vein”). By surface analysis, phlebo- + -tomy.

Synonyms

venesectionvenipuncture

This word in other languages

phlébotomie(Français)Aderlass(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "phlebotomy"?
"phlebotomy" is spelled P-H-L-E-B-O-T-O-M-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /flɪˈbɒtəmi/.
What does "phlebotomy" mean?
As a noun, "phlebotomy" means: The opening of a vein, either to withdraw blood or for letting blood; venesection.
How do you pronounce "phlebotomy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "phlebotomy" is /flɪˈbɒtəmi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "phlebotomy"?
From Old French flebothomie (French phlébotomie), from Late Latin phlebotomia, from Ancient Greek φλεβοτόμος (phlebotómos, “that opens a vein”), from φλέψ (phléps, “vein”). By surface analysis, phlebo- + -tomy. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "phlebotomy", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pianissimo#99,702pockmarked#99,711Potawatomi#99,718pyromaniac#99,740

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list