Chinese word

手术

Pronunciation

Pinyinshǒu shù

Meaning

  • nounsurgery

Example

他今天要做手术。tā jīn tiān yào zuò shǒu shù

He is having surgery today.

Illustration for 手术 (surgery)

More examples

他手术后要注意伤口护理。tā shǒu shù hòu yào zhù yì shāng kǒu hù lǐ

After surgery, he needs to pay attention to wound care.

Core concept

A focused medical intervention that changes or repairs the body to treat illness, from a small repair to work on an organ.

Common phrases

  • 做手术zuò shǒu shù

    have surgery

  • 接受手术jiē shòu shǒu shù

    undergo surgery

  • 手术后shǒu shù hòu

    after surgery

Similar words

治疗zhì liáo: Medical care given to cure, relieve, or manage an illness or injury.

Definition in Chinese

医生在手术室或相应环境中对患者进行的切开、修复、摘除或器官处理等以达到治疗目的的医学操作和全过程。yī shēng zài shǒu shù shì huò xiāng yìng huán jìng zhōng duì huàn zhě jìn xíng de qiē kāi xiū fù zhāi chú huò qì guān chú lǐ děng yǐ dá dào zhì liáo mù dì de yī xué cāo zuò hé quán guò chéng

Word origin

The compound 手术 (shǒushù, "surgery") joins 手 (shǒu, "hand") and 术 (shù, "skill or method"), linking the doctor's physical action with a trained medical method.

Usage tips

  • Chinese often uses 做手术 (zuò shǒushù, "have an operation") for both undergoing and carrying out the procedure, so the subject and context supply the English distinction.

Other meanings

  • operateverb

Opposites

  • 保守治疗báo shǒu zhì liáoconservative treatmentnoun
  • 药物治疗yào wù zhì liáodrug treatmentnoun

Related words

Word lists with this word