Chirurgeonly

/kɪˈrɜrdʒənli/ adjective

Definition

Relating to or characteristic of a chirurgeon or surgeon; surgical in nature.

Etymology

From chirurgeon plus the adjectival suffix -ly, creating an archaic adjective meaning 'of or pertaining to surgery.' This formation is now obsolete, replaced by the simpler 'surgical.'

Kelly Says

Chirurgeonly is a wonderfully rare word that shows how English used to form adjectives—we'd add -ly to nouns, but this suffix got repurposed so much we eventually preferred simpler forms like 'surgical'!

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