surgeon
UK /ˈsɜːd͡ʒən/ · US /ˈsɝd͡ʒən/ noun, proper noun
Forms surgeons chirurgeon
- noun One who performs surgery; a doctor who performs operations on people or animals. “The surgeon refused to operate because the patient was her son.”
- noun A surgeonfish.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
sawbones cutter chirurgeon operating surgeon
Etymology
From Middle English surgien, borrowed from Anglo-Norman surgien, sirogen (Old French surgien et al.), from Vulgar Latin *chīrurgiānus, from Latin chīrūrgia (“surgery”), from chīrurgus (“surgeon”), borrowed from Ancient Greek χειρουργός (kheirourgós), from χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work”). Doublet of chirurgeon.
Occupational surname from surgeon.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One whose profession or occupation is to cure diseases or injuries of the body by manual operation; one whose occupation is to cure local injuries or disorders (such as wounds, dislocations, tumors, etc.), whether by manual operation, or by medication and constitutional treatment.
- noun Any one of numerous species of chætodont fishes of the family Teuthidæ, or Acanthuridæ, which have one or two sharp lancelike spines on each side of the base of the tail. Called also surgeon fish, doctor fish, lancet fish, and sea surgeon. Surgeon apothecary, one who unites the practice of surgery with that of the apothecary.
Etymology [OE. surgien, OF. surgien, contr. fr. chirurgien. See Chirurgeon.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “surgeon”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details