tonsillectomy
noun
tonsillectomy is spelled T-O-N-S-I-L-L-E-C-T-O-M-Y: 13 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 85,266th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tonsillectomy means “The surgical removal of the tonsils, especially the palatine tonsils. Frequently accompanied by an adenoidectomy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tonsillectomy is tonsillectomies.
How many letters and syllables are in tonsillectomy?
| Letters | 13: T-O-N-S-I-L-L-E-C-T-O-M-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 85,266th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tonsillectomy?
Tonsillectomy appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 85,266th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tonsillectomy?
- US
Tonsillectomy has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-tonsillectomy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tonsillectomy
- tonsillectomies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tonsillectomy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The surgical removal of the tonsils, especially the palatine tonsils. Frequently accompanied by an adenoidectomy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tonsillectomy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense surgical removal of tonsils:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tonsillectomie, amygdalectomie |
| German | Tonsillektomie |
| Portuguese | amigdalectomia, tonsilectomia |
| Spanish | amigdalectomía |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tonsillectomy come from?
From tonsil + -ectomy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).