chirurgus

Forms

chīrūrgus m (genitive chīrūrgī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek χειρουργός (kheirourgós, “working by hand; surgeon”),^[2][3][1] from χείρ (kheír, “hand”) and ἔργον (érgon, “work”).^[1][4] The OLD has the adjective, “of a surgeon”, and the noun made from it.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Celsus,^[4][5] meaning a surgeon.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

Celsus describes at length what a surgeon should be like: young, with a strong and steady hand, keen sight and an unflinching mind.^[5] Scribonius Largus and Martial use the word,^[3][5] and the Priapea has it as an adjective, “of the surgeon”.^[7][2] In Medieval Latin it remained the word for a surgeon, a physician who uses instruments,^[8][9] with the spellings cirurgus and cyrurgus.^[8]

Timeline

• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it for a surgeon.^[6][5][4]
• 1st century AD – The Priapea uses it as an adjective.^[7][4]
• c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses it.^[3][5][4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A surgeon.^[2][3][6]

Adjective

1. Of a surgeon.^[2][7]

Word family

• chīrurgicus
• chīrurga
• chīrūrgia

Usage notes

L&S note that the native Latin term was medicus vulnerarius.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press