Oophorectomy /ˌoʊ.əfəˈrɛktəmi/ (from Greek ᾠοφόρος, ōophóros, "egg-bearing" + ἐκτομή, ektomḗ, "a cutting out of") is the surgical removal of an ovary or ovaries. The surgery is also called ovariectomy, but this term has been traditionally used in basic science research to describe the surgical removal of ovaries in laboratory animals. Removal of the ovaries in women is the biological equivalent of castration in males; the term castration is only occasionally used in the medical literature to refer to oophorectomy in humans.