surgeonn.
/ˈsəːdʒ(ə)n/, U.S. /ˈsərdʒən/ 1.
a. One who practises the art of healing by manual operation; a practitioner who treats wounds, fractures, deformities, or disorders by surgical means. In early use often more widely, a doctor. Now spec. one who holds a licence or diploma from the Royal College of Surgeons or any other body, legally qualifying him to practise in surgery; hence (now rare) = general practitioner.For the relation between surgeon and physician see note and quots. under physician n. 1a. See also barber-surgeon n. at barber n. Compounds 2, house surgeon n. at house n.1 and int. Compounds 10. Surgeons' Hall: see hall n.1 6.
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the world > health and disease > healing > healer > surgeon > [noun]
chirurgeon1297
surgeonc1330
surgera1400
surgeonrer1483
surgeoner1526
chirurge1535
scarifier1566
scissor man1593
operator1598
man-mendera1625
men-mendera1625
flesh-tailor1633
nim-gimmer1699
sawbones1837
lint-scraper1860
knife-man1961
α.
β. c1400 Melayne 1343 If any Surgeoun myghte helpe thee.14.. Chaucer's Melib. (Cambr.) ⁋39 Surgeons Phisiciens olde folk And ȝynge.c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 485/1 Surion, or surgen.1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur viii. ix. 285 She was a noble surgeon.1471 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 437 I haue sent hym a sorion whyche hathe dressid hym.1511–12 Act 3 Hen. VIII, c. 11 Schedule (1817) III. 31 (note) Memorandum that Sowrgeons be comprised in this Acte like as Phisicions.1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. F1 v No lecture at Surgeons Hall vppon an Anatomie, may compare with them in longitude.c1610–15 tr. St. Augustine Life St. Monica in C. Horstmann Lives Women Saints (1886) 120 A Surgeons iron.1653 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) I. 576 I must..have the opinnion of a surgon and a doctor both.1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. iv. 56 I was bred a Surgeon, whose Trade it is to cure Wounds and Hurts in the Body.1843 A. Bethune Sc. Peasant's Fire-side 27 To the young surgeon these invitations were highly gratifying.1858 Act 21 & 22 Vict. c. 90 §40 Any person who shall..falsely..use the..Title of a Physician, Doctor of Medicine,..Surgeon [etc.]..shall..pay a Sum not exceeding Twenty Pounds.1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 665/1 The museum and lecture rooms of the Royal College of Surgeons.1880–5 J. Paget Mem. & Lett. (1901) ii. 19 It was decided that I should be a ‘Surgeon’—meaning a general practitioner.γ. 1537 in Vicary's Anat. Bodie of Man (1888) App. ii. 112 Thomas Vicary ‘surgiant’ to the King.c1550 Knight of Curtesy in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1864) II. 78 A surgeand by his arte Heled his woundes.1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. Ej v He..may..wishe for a surgeaunt to sette his necke bone.1592 Extracts Munic. Acc. Newcastle (1848) 24 Paid to John Colson, surgynte, for his accustomed fee for helping to cure the mamed poore folke, 40s.δ. c1460 Promptorium Parvulorum (Winch.) 449 Surion, or suregene.a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 2726 He..al the surryȝenis socht, Wich for to cum was reddy at his neid.1524 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1903) V. 238 Robert Kynnard, Surrigeane to the King.1553 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Eneados xii. vii. (heading) No mannis cure, nor craft of surrigine Mycht heill Eneas, bot Venus medycyne.c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 1659 Þilke monk sorgien [c1475 Caius a phisician] was, Þe vertu he knewe of mani a gras; Þe wounde he biheld stedefastliche.
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 229 His surgien him tolde, if he suld him saue, & his lif holde, reste behoued him haue.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 964 Alle the surgens of salerne.
c1386 G. Chaucer Melibeus ⁋45 A Surgien by licence and assent of swiche as weren wise.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 1535 Swych be no goode surgyens, Lechys, nor physycyens.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Ljv The Surgean cannot heale a wounde, except the dedde fleshe bee cut out.
1567 T. Harman Caueat for Commen Cursetors (new ed.) sig. Ei The Surgien made hym gape, & we could see but halfe a toung.
a1630 F. Moryson in Shakespeare's Europe (1903) v. i. 424 The Vniversities..haue yealded famous Phisitians, who in Italy are also Shirgians.
b. A medical officer in the army, navy, or air force (on board ship = ‘ship's doctor’). †surgeon's mate: an assistant to a ship's doctor. surgeon-assistant = assistant surgeon (see assistant adj. and n. Compounds). surgeon-general: see general adj. 8a; also (U.S.), the senior medical officer of the Bureau of Public Health or similar state authority; hence surgeon-generalship. surgeon-major: a medical officer with the rank of major.
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the world > health and disease > healing > healer > physician > [noun] > military physician
surgeon1591
medical officer1916
M.O.1916
quack1919
prick farrier1961
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > physician > [noun] > military physician > army
surgeon1591
medical board1796
pill1835
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > physician > [noun] > military physician > navy
surgeon1591
loblolly doctor1710
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > paramedic > [noun] > assisting in surgery > on board ship
surgeon's mate1591
loblolly boy1748
loblolly man1786
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > sailors involved in specific duties or activities > [noun] > ship's doctor or assistant
surgeon1591
loblolly doctor1710
loblolly boy1748
loblolly man1786
mate1811
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > health officer > [noun]
surgeon-general1777
medical board1796
medical officer1817
medical examiner1820
health-officer1856
1591 W. Garrard & R. Hitchcock Arte of Warre 51 Other meane offices, as Drums, Fifes, Surgeans, and the Clarke of the Band.
1599 T. Dallam Diary in J. T. Bent Early Voy. Levant (1893) i. 13 Mr. Chancie..was our fysition and surgin for the seae.
1639 J. Woodall Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) Pref. sig. B2v The..trust for..appointing fit..Surgeons and Surgeons Mates for their ships and services.
1639 J. Woodall Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) sig. C2 A Surgeons Chest, or..Surgery provisions for Military uses.
1706 G. Farquhar Recruiting Officer iv. ii. 51 In short, the Operation will be perform'd with so much Dexterity, that with the general Applause you will be made Surgeon General of the whole Army.
1739 J. Sparrow tr. H. F. Le Dran Observ. Surg. xx. 72 Mr. Terrier,..Surgeon-Major to his Majesty's Regiment.
1777 Jrnls. Continental Congr. 1774–89 (Libr. of Congr.) (1907) VII. 162 There [shall] be a physician and Surgeon General with the main army.
1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. Surgeon,..a staff officer, who is chief of the medical department in each regiment or hospital, &c.
1802 C. James New Mil. Dict. Surgeon-General, the first or senior surgeon of the army.
1805 C. James New Mil. Dict. (ed. 2) (at cited word) Navy Surgeon, one who is obliged to act in the three capacities of physician, surgeon, and apothecary, on board a ship of war.
1836 F. Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy III. xiii. 258 Will you send an assistant-surgeon on board to look after two of my men who are hurt?
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) ii. 16 Doctor Slammer, surgeon to the 97th.
1837 J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott I. x. 324 It was discovered that the patronage of the season had been exhausted, with the exception of one surgeon-assistant's commission.
1867 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (new ed.) III. 666/1 In the Army, the officers of the medical department are classed as follows: Director-general, who ranks as a major general;..surgeon, as major; assistant-surgeon, as lieutenant.
1867 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (new ed.) III. 666/1 In the Royal Navy there are the following grades: inspector-general of hospitals and fleets, deputy-inspector, staff-surgeon, surgeon, assistant-surgeon.
1869 Boyd's Business Directory 111 Governor's Staff [N.Y. State]—..Surgeon-General, Jacob S. Mosher, of Albany.
1876 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) Surgeon-Major, a medical officer who is attached to and in medical charge of a regiment.
1886 N.Y. Tribune 16 Aug. (Cent. Dict.) Surgeon-generalship.
1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Mar. 604/1 Whether an Admiralty surgeon..can wear uniform, or not.
1894 Outing 24 234/1 In addition to the brigade-surgeon..there are also one surgeon with rank of major and one assistant surgeon with rank of captain for each of the five regiments.
1917 Rep. Surgeon General, U.S. Navy 16 The Surgeon General, as a member of the General Medicine Board, has participated in the work [for the Council of National Defense].
1973 Philadelphia Inquirer 7 Oct. (Today Suppl.) 4 (advt.) Warning: the Surgeon General has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health.
c. figurative.
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1535 Bible (Coverdale) Exod. xv. 26 Then wyl I laye vpon ye none of the sicknesses, that I layed vpon Egipte, for I am the Lorde thy surgione.
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes (new ed.) f. 104 So should not loue so work my wo, To make death surgeant for my sore.
1567 W. Allen Treat. Def. Priesthod 220 He..also maketh priestes to be as well the iudges as surgeons of our soules.
1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. xxxvii. sig. G5 A Criticke..is the Surgeon of old Authors, and heales the wounds of dust and ignorance.
1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks II. iv. 84 The Solutio Continui, which real Surgeons talk of, is never apply'd in this case, by Surgeons of another sort.
1940 L. MacNeice Last Ditch 22 Here she stands who was twenty and is thirty. The same but different and he found the difference A surgeon's knife without an anaesthetic.
1962 Daily Tel. 13 Sept. 1/1 Sir Alexander Bustamante said that the Treaty of Rome was a ‘surgeon's knife thrust into the Commonwealth body’.
2. = surgeon-bird n., surgeonfish n. at Compounds 2.
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the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > member of family Jacanidae (jacana)
jacana1753
lotus bird1839
surgeon1855
surgeon-bird1870
lily-trotter1920
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Acanthuroidei > member of family Acanthuridae (surgeon-fish)
tang1735
doctor1775
unicorn acanthurus1803
lancet-fish1840
surgeon1855
surgeonfish1871
shoemaker1891
medico1902
1855 W. S. Dallas in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature III. 182 In the common Jacana..the claw of the hind toe is excessively elongated and acute, from which circumstance the name of the surgeon has been applied to it.
1880 A. Günther Introd. Study of Fishes 439 ‘Surgeons’ occur in all tropical seas.
Compounds
C1. attributive: appositive, as surgeon-apothecary, surgeon-aurist, surgeon-dentist, surgeon-masseur, surgeon-oculist, surgeon-radiographer; surgeon-colonel, surgeon-lieutenant.
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1776 Pennsylvania Evening Post 16 Mar. 138/1 Dr. L. Butte and Co. Surgeon-Dentists.
1842 R. Dunglison Med. Lexicon (ed. 3) Surgeon-apothecary, one who unites the practice of surgery with that of the apothecary. A general practitioner.
1854 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) 369/2 They [sc. general practitioners] are also called Surgeon-Apothecaries, because..they are Members of a College of Surgeons, besides being Licentiates of the Apothecaries Company.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch III. v. xlv. 26 Lydgate did not dispense drugs. This was offensive both to the physicians whose exclusive distinction seemed infringed on, and to the surgeon-apothecaries with whom he ranged himself.
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 27 Surgeon-Oculist.
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 27 Surgeon-Aurist.
1885 Court Jrnl. 27 Mar. A surgeon-masseur of considerable repute.
1898 London Gaz. 26 Aug. 5142/1 Whereas We have deemed it expedient to alter the Ranks of the Officers of Our Indian Medical Service: Our Will..is that the following alterations shall be made:—Present Ranks. Surgeon-Colonel... Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel. New Ranks. Colonel. Lieutenant-Colonel.
1901 Nature 5 Sept. 454/1 Surgeon-radiographer to the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital, South Africa.
C2.
surgeon-bird n. the jacana.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > member of family Jacanidae (jacana)
jacana1753
lotus bird1839
surgeon1855
surgeon-bird1870
lily-trotter1920
1870 P. Gillmore tr. L. Figuier Reptiles & Birds 302 Called Surgeon Birds, from the resemblance the claw on their back toe bears to a lancet.
surgeonfish n. a herbivorous tropical marine fish of the family Acanthuridæ, distinguished by sharp spines on either side of the tail.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Acanthuroidei > member of family Acanthuridae (surgeon-fish)
tang1735
doctor1775
unicorn acanthurus1803
lancet-fish1840
surgeon1855
surgeonfish1871
shoemaker1891
medico1902
1871 Harper's Mag. July 191/2 The terror of all, the surgeon-fish,..boldly swims in every quarter, opening and shutting his lancet.
1931 J. R. Norman Hist. Fishes v. 97 The Surgeon-fishes..of tropical seas derive their name from the presence of a lancet-like spine on either side of the fleshy part of the tail.
1974 Environmental Conservation 1 72 (caption) A Surgeon-fish..is prominent on right below.
surgeon's knot n. (see quot. 1968).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > binding or tying > a bond, tie, or fastening > [noun] > knot > reef-knot > variation of
surgeon's knot1733
1733 Med. Ess. & Obs. Soc. in Edinb. I. 108 By the help of a needle, or a flexible eye'd probe, the surgeons knot is made with the thread.
1945 Ann. Surg. CXXI. 440 The artery was secured to the tube..by a No. 3 Deknatel ligature tied tightly behind the holding ridge, using a surgeon's knot.
1968 E. Franklin Dict. Knots 27 Surgeon's knot. This is a variation of the reef knot in which an extra turn is taken at the start to help prevent the knot from tending to loosen while being completed. Used by surgeons for tying a ligature and by us [sc. Scouts] for parcels, etc.
Derivatives
ˈsurgeon v. (transitive) to cure as by surgical art.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > cure as by surgery [verb (transitive)]
surgeon1850
1850 J. S. Blackie tr. Æschylus Lyrical Dramas I. 13 I chaunt some dolorous ditty, making song, Sleep's substitute, surgeon my nightly care.
1868 Ld. Lytton Orval in New Poems II. 355 Who will surgeon me This gash?
ˈsurgeoncy n. surgeonship.
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the world > health and disease > healing > healer > surgeon > [noun] > office or position of
surgeoncy1792
surgeonship1885
1792 Dublin Evening Post 18 Feb. 1/2 (advt.) Wanted, a surgeoncy in a regiment of infantry.
1804 W. Taylor in J. W. Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) I. 477 Having accepted a surgeoncy and an ensigncy in the militia.
1893 Times 3 Oct. 7/3 A discussion at St. George's Hospital about a contested election to a vacant surgeoncy.
ˈsurgeoness n. a female surgeon.
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the world > health and disease > healing > healer > surgeon > [noun] > female
surgeoness1729
1729 Indenture of Apprenticeship (Hammersmith Archives: PAF/1/272, Ref. 70) Mary Webb, daughter of John Webb, a poor child of the said parish, apprentice to Anne Saint of St. Leonard's Shoreditch in the County of Middlesex—surgeoness.
1815 M. Pilkington Celebrity II. 213 He pronounced the marchioness a very skilful surgeon or surgeoness.
ˈsurgeoning n. surgery.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > [noun]
chirurgery1398
surgerya1400
surgeonry14..
chirurgy1489
surgeoning1868
1868 Ld. Lytton Orval in New Poems II. 191 Silly lancet, all Thy simple surgeoning cures nothing.
ˈsurgeonless adj. without a surgeon.
ΚΠ
1889 Blackwood's Mag. 145 555/1 Long voyages in surgeonless ships.
ˈsurgeon-like adj.
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1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus i. i. 5 Surgean-like thou dost with cutting heale.
ˈsurgeonship n. the office or position of a surgeon.
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the world > health and disease > healing > healer > surgeon > [noun] > office or position of
surgeoncy1792
surgeonship1885
1885 American 10 291 Who has given 1400 surgeonships to the Democrats in the Pension Bureau.
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 17 Sept. 10/1 The surgeonship of some local clubs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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