lancet

A lancet is a small, sharp medical blade or device used to make a tiny cut so a drop of blood can be taken. In the past, doctors used it for bloodletting, a treatment based on old medical ideas. Today, it is most often used for finger-prick blood tests, such as checking blood sugar. You might see disposable safety versions used at home or in a doctor's office.

The word comes from the Old French lancette, meaning "small lance." Most of the time, when people use this word now, they mean the small tool used to collect a little blood quickly and safely.

A lancet is a small, sharp instrument used to make a tiny cut, usually so that a drop of blood can be collected. In older medicine, it was used for bloodletting, when doctors believed that removing blood could treat disease. That practice was based on ideas that are no longer accepted, but it explains why the word has such a strong link to medical history.

Today, the word usually refers to the small device used in blood testing. People with diabetes often use one to check blood glucose levels at home, and clinics use disposable safety lancets for quick finger-prick tests. These modern versions are made to be clean, safe, and less painful than older blades.

The word also appears outside medicine. In architecture, a lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed top, common in Gothic churches and other Gothic buildings. The shape suggests the narrow point of the medical blade. You may also see The Lancet, the name of a famous medical journal founded in 1823.

So the word can point to a medical tool, especially one used for taking a small blood sample, and by extension to a pointed window shape or the title of a major medical journal.