Cheirourgoi

Cheirourgoi (Greek: χειρουργοί; singular cheirourgós) is the Greek term for surgeons. The word derives from cheir- “hand” and ergon “work,” literally “hand-workers,” reflecting the manual character of the craft. In ancient Greek and later periods, cheirourgoi were practitioners who performed surgical procedures, often alongside physicians, and sometimes autonomously in military and civil settings.

In classical and Hellenistic contexts, cheirourgoi carried out operations such as incisions, wound care, fracture management, trepanation, and lithotomy, using instruments like knives, scalpels, forceps, and cautery. Training varied, typically involving apprenticeships or instruction within medical schools, and professional status depended on demonstrated skill and outcomes.

In Roman and late antique periods, the role of the cheirourgos persisted, and the profession influenced later medical terminology. The term was borrowed into Latin as chirurgus and into English as “chirurgeon,” with the modern Greek plural χειρουργοί remaining the standard term for surgeons in Greece today. The concept underscores the emergence of surgery as a distinct medical field, separate from purely non-operative therapies, while often overlapping with barber-surgeons in later European history.