Medical operations where doctors cut into a body to repair, remove, or examine damaged parts, or the places where these operations happen.
From Old French 'surgerie,' derived from Greek 'cheirourgia' meaning 'hand work' (from 'cheir'=hand, 'ergon'=work). It originally just meant any skilled handwork but became specialized for medical operations.
The Greek root literally means 'hand work'—and that's exactly what surgery was before technology: a surgeon's skilled hands doing the work! Surgeons had to be part artist, part engineer, and part wizard, which is why medieval surgeons were actually respected differently than doctors (physicians) who just gave medicine.
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