How to Pronounce Phlebotomy

Say it like this: fleh-BOT-oh-mee. The stress (loudest part) falls on the second syllable—BOT. Think of it as "fleh" (rhymes with "uh"), then "BOT" said loudly, then "oh-mee" at the end.

Many people stress the first syllable and say "FLEB-oh-tomy," but that's incorrect. Remember: the stress belongs on BOT, the second syllable. So it's fleh-BOT-oh-mee, not FLEB-oh-tomy.

Phlebotomy has four syllables: phle-bot-o-my. When you say it naturally, you'll blend the first two together a bit, so it sounds more like fleh-BOT-oh-mee.

Phlebotomy comes from two Greek roots: "phlebo" means vein, and "tomy" means to cut or make an opening in. So the word literally means "cutting into a vein," though today it just means drawing blood from a vein.

Phlebotomy is the process of drawing blood from a vein, usually in your arm. A person who does this job is called a phlebotomist. You might have phlebotomy done when you need blood tests or when you donate blood.

Other words with "phlebo" include phlebitis (inflammation of a vein) and phlebotomist (the person who draws blood). These all connect to the Greek word for vein, so they all relate to veins in some way.

Phlebotomy is often shortened to just "phlebotomy" in everyday speech—there's no common abbreviation that's shorter. The person who performs it, however, is called a phlebotomist (fle-BOT-oh-mist).

Here's an example: "The nurse scheduled my phlebotomy appointment for Monday morning at the lab." This simply means your blood-drawing appointment is scheduled for that time.