A surgical lancet or small blade historically used by doctors and barbers to make cuts for bloodletting treatments.
From Medieval Latin flēbotomum or Greek phlebotomos (vein-cutter). The word entered English in the medieval period when bloodletting was standard medical practice.
Fleams were the primary tool of medieval medicine—doctors carried these little blades everywhere believing bloodletting could cure almost anything, from fevers to melancholy to bad moods!
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