Plasty

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A medical intervention aimed at reconstructing or modifying anatomical structures through surgical techniques
2. A surgical method dedicated to restoring or reshaping parts of the body using various operative procedures
3. A procedure involving the surgical reshaping or rebuilding of body parts to improve form or function

Etymology: "Plasty" is a combining form rather than a word that existed in ancient Greek. It comes from the Greek "plassein," meaning "to mould or form," which also gave English "plaster" and "plastic." Its Greek root shows up in "plastikos," meaning "fit for moulding," and the surgical sense grew out of the same idea: a surgeon reshapes tissue much as a sculptor shapes clay. The suffix "-plasty" itself was built in modern medical Latin and English from that Greek base, most often in the late 19th and 20th centuries, when surgeons needed names for new operations. This is why it appears in a family of procedure names such as "rhinoplasty" (reshaping the nose) and "blepharoplasty" (reshaping the eyelids). The English noun "plasty" is simply that suffix standing alone, used as a shorthand for the whole category of reconstructive or cosmetic surgery.

Synonyms: surgery, operation