† chiˈrurgy Obs. rare.
Also 5 cyr-, syrurgye.
[In ME. cirurgie, sirurgie, a. OF. cirurgie, sirurgie, corresp. to It. cirurg{iacu}a, cirug{iacu}a, Sp. cirug{iacu}a, Pg. cirurg{iacu}a:—Romanic type cirurg{iacu}a, repr. L. chīrūrgia (cīr-), a. Gr. χειρουργία abstr. n. of office, f. χειρουργός surgeon. The latter was prop. an adj. (sc. ἰατρός professor of healing) ‘operating with the hand’ f. χειρο- hand- + -ἐργος -working. The word being fully naturalized in Lat., ch was treated as c (see ch- and chiro-), regularly giving cir- in Romanic and Eng., and in later OF. and Eng. sir-, ser-. But the Renascence brought back into Fr. and Eng. (partly also into It.) the Lat. spelling with chir-; in French, however, and formerly in Eng. pronounced with the ‘soft’ ch.]
= Surgery, chirurgery.
| 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. xiv. 38 Notable leches and gode maystres of Syrurgye. 1547 Boorde Brev. Health Pref., As well the syckenesses the which doth parteyne to Chierurgy as to phisicke. |