Standard Lemma guide

neurosurgery

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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: N UH2 R OW0 S ER1 JH ER0 IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The surgical discipline focused on treating those central and peripheral nervous system diseases.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: medicine, neurology, neuroscience, sciences, surgery

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any surgical procedure performed on the nervous system, especially the brain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Topics: medicine, neurology, neuroscience, sciences, surgery

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

any surgery that involves the nervous system (brain or spinal cord or peripheral nerves)

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

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh1- Proto-Indo-European *-wr̥ Proto-Indo-European *snéh1wr̥der. Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron) Ancient Greek νευρο- (neuro-)der. English neuro- 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 neurosurgery From neuro- + surgery.

Across languages

Translations

23 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: neurocirurgia — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Dutch: neurochirurgie — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Finnish: hermokirurgia — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • French: neurochirurgie — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Georgian: ნეიროქირურგია (neirokirurgia) — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • German: Neurochirurgie — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Hungarian: idegsebészet — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Irish: néar-mháinliacht — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Portuguese: neurocirurgia — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Russian: нейрохирурги́я (nejroxirurgíja) — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Spanish: neurocirugía — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Tajik: асабҷарроҳӣ (asabjarrohi) — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Vietnamese: phẫu thuật thần kinh — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Vietnamese: ngoại thần kinh — surgical discipline focused on treating the nervous systems
  • Catalan: neurocirurgia — surgery of the brain
  • Finnish: neurokirurgia — surgery of the brain
  • French: neurochirurgie — surgery of the brain
  • Georgian: ნეიროქირურგიული ოპერაცია (neirokirurgiuli oṗeracia) — surgery of the brain
  • German: Hirnchirurgie — surgery of the brain
  • Irish: néar-mháinliacht — surgery of the brain
  • Portuguese: neurocirurgia — surgery of the brain
  • Russian: нейрохирурги́я (nejroxirurgíja) — surgery of the brain
  • Spanish: neurocirugía — surgery of the brain