Standard Lemma guide

microsurgery

adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adj

Meaning 1

Relating to techniques of surgery on very small or delicate parts of the body.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Surgical procedures that are very small.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Reattaching his severed finger required microsurgery to suture together the tiny blood vessels.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

surgery using operating microscopes and miniaturized precision instruments to perform intricate procedures on very small structures

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: operation, surgery, surgical operation, surgical procedure, surgical process

Narrower terms: robotic telesurgery

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English micro- Proto-Indo-European *ǵhes- Proto-Indo-European *-ōr Proto-Indo-European *ǵhésōr Proto-Hellenic *khéhər Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír) Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom Proto-Hellenic *wérgon Ancient Greek ἔργον (érgon) Ancient Greek -ουργός (-ourgós) Ancient Greek χειρουργός (kheirourgós) Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti Proto-Indo-European *-éh1ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh1yeti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Ancient Greek -έω (-éō) Ancient Greek χειρουργέω (kheirourgéō) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh2 Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek χειρουργίᾱ̆ (kheirourgíā̆)bor. Latin chīrūrgiader. Old French surgie Old French surgeriebor. Middle English surgerie English surgery English microsurgery From micro- + surgery.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: mikrocərrahiyyə — surgical procedures that are very small
  • Chinese Mandarin: 顯微外科 /显微外科 (xiǎnwēi wàikē) — surgical procedures that are very small
  • Chinese Mandarin: 顯微手術 /显微手术 (xiǎnwēi shǒushù) — surgical procedures that are very small
  • Finnish: mikrokirurgia — surgical procedures that are very small
  • French: microchirurgie — surgical procedures that are very small
  • Russian: мѝкрохирурги́я (mìkroxirurgíja) — surgical procedures that are very small
  • Spanish: microcirugía — surgical procedures that are very small
  • Swedish: mikrokirurgi — surgical procedures that are very small
  • Turkish: mikrocerrahi — surgical procedures that are very small