Postsurgical

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Happening or existing in the period following a surgical operation
2. Relating to the time or care immediately following surgery
3. Pertaining to conditions or treatments that arise after a surgical procedure

Etymology: "Postsurgical" is a plain formation: the prefix "post-", meaning "after", attached to "surgical". The prefix comes from Latin "post", "after" or "behind", which English has used in countless compounds such as "postwar" and "postgraduate". Its use here is simply to mark a time frame: the condition or treatment that follows an operation. The adjective "surgical" carries a longer and more surprising history. It descends from Late Latin "chīrurgicus", which came from Greek "kheirourgikós", working with the hands. The Greek root "kheir" means "hand", so the same idea that gave English "chirurgeon", the old name for a surgeon, sits at its core. Medieval Latin shortened the form to "cirurgicālis", which passed through Middle French "cirurgical" before English adopted it as "surgical", so the modern word preserves a sense of manual work.

Synonyms: postoperative, after surgery