ablation

Etymology

From Late Middle English ablacioun (“removal”), from Late Latin ablātiō (“a taking away”), from auferō (“to take away, carry off, withdraw, remove”) + -tiō (“-tion”, nominal suffix); equivalent to ablate + -ion. Doublet of ablatio. Compare French ablation.

noun

1. (obsolete) A carrying or taking away; removal.
2. (surgery) The surgical removal of a body part, an organ, or especially a tumor; the removal of an organ function; amputation.
3. (sciences) The progressive removal of material by any of a variety of processes such as melting or vaporization under heat or chipping.
   1. (geology) The removal of a glacier by melting and evaporation; the lowering of a land surface by any of several means, as in wind erosion or mass wasting.
   2. (meteorology) The depletion of surface snow and ice from a spacecraft or meteorite through melting and evaporation caused by friction with the atmosphere.