Surgery

The story of the word

Greek χειρουργία became Latin chirurgia, then Old French cirurgie, and by the time Middle English took it the initial cluster had worn away to sur-. The spelling chirurgeon survived in print into the eighteenth century as a learned ghost of the original. For centuries the distinction the word marks was social rather than technical: physicians reasoned about humours, surgeons worked with their hands, and in England they shared a guild with the barbers until 1745.

How it travelled

Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English

First recorded

14th century