scalpel

S1C3A1L1P3E1L1
/ˈskælpəl//ˈskæpəl/

noun

A small straight knife with a very sharp blade used for surgery, dissection and craftwork.

OriginLatin scalpellum →
Less commonScrabble 11
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Meanings

nounscalpel (plural scalpels)

plural scalpels

  1. A small straight knife with a very sharp blade used for surgery, dissection and craftwork.

    He feels a tingling behind his ears, anticipating the scalpel and the drill.

    1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 399
verb
  1. To hit, thrust, or pierce with a scalpel.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
bistoury

Origin

  1. Latinscalpellum
  2. Englishscalpel

Borrowed from Latin scalpellum, from scalprum (“knife”), from scalpere (“to cut”). Doublet of scalpellum.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مِشْرَط
  • مِشْرَط (mišraṭ)small straight knife
Basque bisturi
  • bisturismall straight knife
Bulgarian скалпел
  • скалпел (skalpel)small straight knife
Catalan bisturí
  • bisturísmall straight knife
Chinese Mandarin 解剖刀, 手術刀 /手术刀
  • 解剖刀 (jiěpōudāo)small straight knife
  • 手術刀 /手术刀 (shǒushùdāo)small straight knife
Czech skalpel
  • skalpelsmall straight knife
Danish operationskniv, skalpel
  • operationsknivsmall straight knife
  • skalpelsmall straight knife
Dutch scalpel, scalpeermes
  • scalpelsmall straight knife
  • scalpeermessmall straight knife
Esperanto skalpelo
  • skalpelosmall straight knife
Finnish skalpelli, leikkausveitsi
  • skalpellismall straight knife
  • leikkausveitsismall straight knife
French scalpel
  • scalpelsmall straight knife
German Skalpell
  • Skalpellsmall straight knife
Greek νυστέρι, μαχαιρίδιο
  • νυστέρι (nystéri)small straight knife
  • μαχαιρίδιο (machairídio)small straight knife
Hebrew אזמל
  • אזמל (izmel)small straight knife
Hungarian szike
  • szikesmall straight knife
Icelandic skurðarhnífur
  • skurðarhnífursmall straight knife
Irish sceanóg
  • sceanógsmall straight knife
Italian bisturi, scalpello
  • bisturismall straight knife
  • scalpellosmall straight knife
Japanese メス, 円刃刀
  • メス (mesu)small straight knife
  • 円刃刀 (enjintō)small straight knife
Korean 메스
  • 메스 (meseu)small straight knife
Latin scalpellum
  • scalpellumsmall straight knife
Lithuanian skalpelis
  • skalpelissmall straight knife
Norwegian Bokmål skalpell
  • skalpellsmall straight knife
Persian اسکالپل
  • اسکالپل (eskâlpel)small straight knife
Polish skalpel
  • skalpelsmall straight knife
Portuguese bisturi, escalpelo
  • bisturismall straight knife
  • escalpelosmall straight knife
Romanian bisturiu
  • bisturiusmall straight knife
Russian ска́льпель
  • ска́льпель (skálʹpelʹ)small straight knife
Slovak skalpel
  • skalpelsmall straight knife
Spanish escalpelo, bisturí
  • escalpelosmall straight knife
  • bisturísmall straight knife
Swedish skalpell
  • skalpellsmall straight knife
Tagalog bisturi, pangadlit
  • bisturismall straight knife
  • pangadlitsmall straight knife
Thai มีดผ่าตัด
  • มีดผ่าตัด (mîit-pàa-dtàt)small straight knife
Turkish neşter
  • neştersmall straight knife
Ukrainian скальпель
  • скальпель (skalʹpelʹ)small straight knife
Vietnamese dao mổ
  • dao mổsmall straight knife
Welsh fflaim
  • fflaimsmall straight knife
Yiddish סקאַלפּעל
  • סקאַלפּעל (skalpel)small straight knife
Cite this entry
APA

scalpel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scalpel

MLA

“scalpel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scalpel. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scalpel,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scalpel.

Source: scalpel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.