surgeon

American  

[sur-juhn] / ˈsɜr dʒən /

noun

• surgeons
  plural

1. a physician who specializes in surgery.

---

surgeon British  

/ ˈsɜːdʒən /

noun

1. a medical practioner who specializes in surgery

2. a medical officer in the Royal Navy

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• surgeons
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of surgeon

1250–1300; Middle English surgien < Anglo-French, alteration of Old French cirurgien chirurgeon

---

Explanation

A surgeon is a kind of doctor who treats his patients by using his hands, often by performing surgery. If you're comfortable slicing into a person's body to remove an appendix, then you might make a decent surgeon. The word surgeon comes from the Greek kheirourgos, which is a fancy way of saying "done by the hand." Whereas a doctor-at-large might treat his patients by chatting with them, asking questions, and prescribing medications, a surgeon's work is much more hands-on, you might say. A surgeon specializes in cutting open the body, usually to heal his patients.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

surgeon surgeons

"Terrible things are happening, but it's far out at sea," said Todorin Ibovski, 66, a surgeon picking apples and figs with his wife.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

An orthopedic surgeon also examined patients in person at the six-month follow-up.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

“If your surgeon said to you ‘Appendectomies aren’t really my thing,’ how do you think that would turn out?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Victims of disgraced brain surgeon Sam Eljamel have complained of "significant gaps" in their records and said they often do not reflect the reality of their care.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

In 1896, English surgeon Stephen Paget says that heart surgery is impossible.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

After the procedure at Rome's Gemelli hospital on Tuesday, the Vatican revealed that the growth was cancerous and that surgeons had removed part of his right lung.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Policy wonks are not typically famous: If they are, that fame is restricted to a league of Beltway professionals—famous in the way that really good brain surgeons are famous to other, presumably lesser brain surgeons.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

Once surgeons started using robots for more of the precision work of cutting and separating tissue, though, Beane found residents got 10 to 20 times less hands-on practice during such procedures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

Steve Palmer, 55, from Nottingham, is among those to benefit from the new technology - and it meant surgeons were able to get his result while they were still operating to remove his tumour.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Here and there surgeons were moving, burial parties.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• expert
• physician
• professor
• scientist
• specialist

---