chirurg

Forms

chirurg m (plural chirurgi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin chirurgus (“surgeon”), the learned Latin word, as DER, DELR, MDA2 and DEX agree.^[2][3][4][5] DELR names Italian chirurgo as a second model, and DEX and Marcu add that it is borrowed from German Chirurg.^[3][5][6][1] According to Ciorănescu the Latin form came in the 19th century and the word had been taken earlier from Greek.^[2] DELR traces the old variant hirurg to Modern Greek χειρουργός (cheirourgós) and to Russian.^[3]

The Latin word is from Ancient Greek χειρουργός (kheirourgós), a compound of χείρ (kheír, “hand”) and ἔργον (érgon, “work”).^[3][7] In Greek it first meant a craftsman working with his hands; the sense of a doctor who operates is already Hellenistic.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, of 1653, has the Latin form hirurgus.^[3][9] The Lexicon of Buda (1825) enters chirurgu with Latin chirurgus, Hungarian seborvos, felcser and German Chirurgus, Wundarzt “wound doctor”.^[10] DA's earliest quotation is from Șincai's chronicle, „chirurgul italian Mezentie”, which MDA2 dates by its edition of 1853.^[11][4]

Semantic evolution

DA defined the surgeon as a doctor who deals chiefly with external injuries such as wounds and fractures and who performs the operations certain diseases call for.^[11] The modern dictionaries define him simply as the specialist in chirurgie, who operates on the human or animal body.^[4][5]

The family grew with the medical vocabulary: chirurgie is recorded from 1805–1817, subchirurg “surgeon's assistant” from 1829, chirurgical from 1843, and neurochirurgie and neurochirurg from 1947 and 1962.^[3]

Timeline

• 1653 – hirurgus, the first record.^[3][9]
• 1805-1817 – chirurgie, as hirurghie.^[3]
• 1825 – chirurgu in the Lexicon of Buda.^[10]
• 1829 – subchirurg “surgeon's assistant”.^[3]
• c. 1830 – chirurgic, as hirurghic.^[3]
• 1843 – chirurgical.^[3]
• 1947 – neurochirurgie.^[3]
• 1962 – neurochirurg.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. surgeon: a doctor specialised in surgery, who performs operations on the human or animal body.^[5][4][1]

Word family

• chirurgic
• chirurgical
• chirurgie
• microchirurgie
• neurochirurg
• neurochirurgie
• subchirurg

Related words

• Latin chirurgus
• felcer

Usage notes

The variant hirurg is obsolete.^[5][3] An old word for the surgeon, țirulic, is from Polish cyrulik.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. chirurg
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. chirurg
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 386
5. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 180
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. chirurg
7. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
8. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
9. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. chirurg
10. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 116
11. ^ a b Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. chirurg