Relating to or characterized by a cholesteatoma, which is an abnormal growth of skin cells in the middle ear that can cause hearing loss and infection.
From Greek 'chole' (bile-like substance) + 'stear' (fat) + '-oma' (tumor) + '-ous' (adjective). Early doctors mistakenly thought these growths contained cholesterol, hence the name.
Despite having 'cholesterol' in its name, a cholesteatoma actually has nothing to do with cholesterol or bile—it's just a skin growth in the ear! The misleading name is a fossil from medieval medical misunderstanding that never got corrected.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.