"bloodletting," c.1400, flebotomye, from Old French flebotomie (13c., Modern French phlébotomie), from medical Latin phlebotomia, from Greek phlebotomia "blood-letting," from phlebotomos "opening veins," from phleps (genitive phlebos) "vein" + -tomia "cutting of," from tome "a cutting" (see tome).