'antrotomy' originates from Greek, specifically the words 'antron' and 'tomē', where 'antron' meant 'cave, cavity' and 'tomē' meant 'a cutting'.

'antrotomy' passed into Late Latin/New Latin as 'antrotomia' (or formed analogously from Greek elements) and eventually entered modern English as 'antrotomy'.

Initially it meant 'cutting into a cavity' in a general sense; over time it came to denote the specific surgical procedure of incision into an antrum (e.g., mastoid or maxillary).