surgical

S1U1R1G2I1C3A1L1
UK/ˈsɜːd͡ʒɪkəl/US/ˈsɝd͡ʒɪkəl/

adjective

Of, relating to, used in, or resulting from surgery.

“The building was destroyed with a surgical air-strike.”

Similar
operativepreoperativepostoperativeaccurate
Opposite
nonsurgicalmedical
OriginMiddle English cirurgical ← Middle French cirurgica ← Medieval Latin cirurgicālis →
CommonScrabble 11
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok
Word of the Day · Nov 10, 2023

Meanings

adjectivesurgical (comparative more surgical, superlative most surgical)

comparative more surgical · superlative most surgical

  1. Of, relating to, used in, or resulting from surgery.

    Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.

    2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2013, page 200

    Synonyms: operative

  2. figurativelyPrecise or very accurate.

    The building was destroyed with a surgical air-strike.

  3. figurativelyExcruciatingly or wearyingly drawn-out.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveOf, relating to, used in, or resulting from surgery.

Similar
operative

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveof or relating to or involving or used in surgery

Opposite
nonsurgical

adjectiverelating to or requiring or amenable to treatment by surgery especially as opposed to medicine

Similar
operativepreoperativepostoperative
Opposite
medical

adjectiveperformed with great precision

Similar
accurate
Also see
accuratemeticulousminuteoperativeparticularpostoperativepreoperativepunctiliousscrupulousstrict

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰes-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰésōr
  3. Proto-Hellenic*kʰéhər
  4. Ancient Greekχείρ (kheír)
  5. Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*worǵós
  7. Proto-Hellenic*worgós
  8. Ancient Greekχειρουργός (kheirourgós)
  9. Ancient Greekχειρουργῐκός (kheirourgĭkós)
  10. Late Latinchīrurgicus
  11. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  13. Medieval Latincirurgicālis
  14. Middle Frenchcirurgica
  15. Middle Englishcirurgical
  16. Englishsurgical

From Middle English cirurgical, borrowed from Middle French cirurgical, from Medieval Latin cirurgicālis, ultimately from Ancient Greek χειρουργία (kheirourgía), from χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work”). Replaced Old English Old English læċe (“doctor, physician”). By surface analysis, surgery + -ical.

More words from Middle English, Middle French, Medieval Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic جِرَاحِيّ
  • جِرَاحِيّ (jirāḥiyy)of or relating to surgery
Bulgarian хирурги́чески
  • хирурги́чески (hirurgíčeski)of or relating to surgery
Catalan quirúrgic
  • quirúrgicof or relating to surgery
Czech chirurgický
  • chirurgickýof or relating to surgery
Danish kirurgisk, kirurgisk
  • kirurgiskof or relating to surgery
  • kirurgiskprecise or very accurate
Esperanto ĥirurga
  • ĥirurgaof or relating to surgery
Estonian kirurgiline, kirurgilise täpsusega
  • kirurgilineof or relating to surgery
  • kirurgilise täpsusegaprecise or very accurate
  • väga täpneprecise or very accurate
Finnish kirurginen, kirurginen
  • kirurginenof or relating to surgery
  • kirurginenprecise or very accurate
French chirurgical
  • chirurgicalof or relating to surgery
German chirurgisch, chirurgisch
  • chirurgischof or relating to surgery
  • chirurgischprecise or very accurate
Greek χειρουργικός
  • χειρουργικός (cheirourgikós)of or relating to surgery
Indonesian bedah, sirurgis
  • bedahof or relating to surgery
  • sirurgisof or relating to surgery
Irish máinliach, máinliachta
  • máinliachof or relating to surgery
  • máinliachtaof or relating to surgery
  • mionchruinnprecise or very accurate
  • críochnúilprecise or very accurate
  • mionchúiseachprecise or very accurate
Italian chirurgico
  • chirurgicoof or relating to surgery
Māori hāparapara
  • hāparaparaof or relating to surgery
Polish chirurgiczny, chirurgiczny
  • chirurgicznyof or relating to surgery
  • chirurgicznyprecise or very accurate
  • aptekarskiprecise or very accurate
Portuguese cirúrgico
  • cirúrgicoof or relating to surgery
Russian хирурги́ческий
  • хирурги́ческий (xirurgíčeskij)of or relating to surgery
Spanish quirúrgico
  • quirúrgicoof or relating to surgery
Swedish kirurgisk, kirurgisk
  • kirurgiskof or relating to surgery
  • kirurgiskprecise or very accurate
Turkish cerrahi
  • cerrahiof or relating to surgery
Ukrainian хірургі́чний
  • хірургі́чний (xirurhíčnyj)of or relating to surgery
Cite this entry
APA

surgical. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surgical

MLA

“surgical.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surgical. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “surgical,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surgical.

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