stereotactic
adjective
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At the beginning of the 20th century, neurosurgeons were experimenting with a technique used to direct the tip of a needle or an electrode in three spatial planes (length, width, and depth) to reach a particular place in the brain. At that time, the word for this technique was "stereotaxic," based on the prefix stereo- ("dealing with three dimensions of space") and "taxis" (referring to the manual restoration of a displaced body part). In 1950, "stereotactic" (based on tactic, meaning "of or relating to touch) joined the medical vocabulary as a synonym of "stereotaxic." Around the same time, a noninvasive neurosurgery technique was developed using beams of radiation. It is this procedure that is now often referred to by "stereotactic" and (less frequently) "stereotaxic."
Examples of stereotactic in a Sentence
Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2025
This is the most common type of stereotactic breast biopsy.
—Sarah Jividen, Health, 27 Sep. 2024
If lung cancer is caught at an early stage, treatments usually include surgically removing the cancerous tumor or stereotactic body radiotherapy, radiation that targets the cancerous cells, said Dr. Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang, a thoracic surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital.
—Claretta Bellamy, NBC News, 19 Dec. 2023
At issue is a study that was begun in 1998 to determine whether a single treatment of stereotactic radiosurgery, also known as targeted irradiation, would prolong life for outpatients with metastasizing brain tumors.
—Ed Silverman, STAT, 16 Oct. 2021
The type of radiation treatment Ginsburg had, called stereotactic ablative radiation therapy, concentrates radiation on the tumor, limiting damage to the surrounding organs, and is generally less disruptive.
—Adam Liptak, BostonGlobe.com, 1 Sep. 2019
Ginsburg was treated using a new form of outpatient radiation therapy called stereotactic ablative radiation therapy for a tumor found on her pancreas.
—Sarah Midkiff, refinery29.com, 24 Aug. 2019
This time, Ginsburg underwent a specific course of treatment—stereotactic ablative radiation therapy—which began on August 5, just days after a biopsy confirmed her pancreatic tumor was malignant.
—Christina Oehler, Health.com, 23 Aug. 2019
If something's deemed not right, the next step could be genetic testing, a diagnostic mammogram, stereotactic biopsy, ultrasound, or MRI, which can range in prices from $750 to over $5,000.
—Meredith C. Carroll, The Week, 2 Oct. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Stereotactic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stereotactic. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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stereotactic
adjective
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