Operation vs. Surgery — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on September 26, 2023
"Operation" refers broadly to any planned, organized activity or procedure, while "Surgery" specifically denotes a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments.
Difference Between Operation and Surgery
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
The terms "Operation" and "Surgery" are often interchangeably used but they convey different meanings. "Operation" is a general term that implies any planned, organized activity or procedure to achieve a specific result, extending its use beyond medical contexts. It can refer to any series of actions intended to accomplish a clear objective, for example, military operations or business operations. It’s about the conduct and execution of planned activities to achieve predetermined goals.
In contrast, "Surgery" specifically refers to the branch of medicine that deals with the treatment of diseases, injuries, or deformities by manual or operative procedures. It encompasses medical procedures that involve an incision with instruments, usually performed by a surgeon, to repair damage or remove diseased tissues. The focus of surgery is thus solely on medical interventions involving incisions to alter body tissues for health-related purposes.
"Operation" encapsulates a wider scope, where the execution can be systematic and involves various actions, whether in medical, business, or other fields, whereas "Surgery" is solely confined to the medical domain, involving specialized procedures to treat diseases, injuries, or deformities. The term operation can be versatile, referring to a sequence of actions conducted to reach a specific objective in any field, while surgery remains tightly bound to medical interventions and treatments.
"Surgery" emphasizes precision, expertise, and specialized knowledge, requiring skilled professionals to perform intricate procedures to address specific medical conditions. "Operation," conversely, might not always require specialized skills and can be more about systematic execution of a plan, whether it is organizing an event, conducting a military operation, or performing a medical procedure.
In essence, while "Operation" portrays a broader and versatile spectrum of organized activities or procedures in various domains, "Surgery" is strictly medical, representing a specialized, precise, and knowledge-intensive branch focused on treating health conditions through operative procedures.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Planned, organized activity or procedure
Medical procedure involving an incision with instruments
Domain
Varied (Medical, Business, Military, etc.)
Strictly Medical
Focus
Achieving a specific result
Treatment of diseases, injuries, or deformities
Scope
Broad and versatile
Specialized and precise
Required Expertise
May vary
Specialized, requires skilled professionals
Compare with Definitions
Operation
A planned, organized activity or procedure to achieve a specific result.
The military operation was executed with precision and coordination.
Surgery
A place where a doctor, dentist, or other medical professional offers services.
She had an appointment at the dental surgery for a check-up.
Operation
A process in which a substance, quality, or variable is altered or manipulated to obtain a desired effect.
The operation of the machine was complex, requiring specialized knowledge.
Surgery
The branch of medicine that treats diseases, injuries, or deformities by manual or operative procedures.
He specialized in heart surgery, performing complex procedures.
Operation
A mathematical process indicating the nature and the number of times a quantity is to be operated upon.
The operation in the equation was multiplication.
Surgery
The room or office in which a doctor or dentist consults or treats patients.
The patient waited nervously in the surgery for the procedure to begin.
Operation
A business unit; usually one producing specified products or exploiting specified resources.
The manufacturing operation was efficient, producing high-quality products.
Surgery
Surgery is a medical or dental specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pathological condition such as a disease or injury, to help improve bodily function, appearance, or to repair unwanted ruptured areas. The act of performing surgery may be called a surgical procedure, operation, or simply "surgery".
Operation
The act or process of operating or functioning.
Surgery
The branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of injury, deformity, and disease by the use of instruments.
Operation
The state of being operative or functional
A factory in operation.
Surgery
Treatment based on such medicine, typically involving the removal or replacement of diseased tissue by cutting
The athlete had surgery on his knee.
Operation
A process or series of acts involved in a particular form of work
The operation of building a house.
Surgery
A procedure that is part of this treatment; an operation
The doctor performed three surgeries this morning.
Operation
An instance or method of efficient, productive activity
That restaurant is quite an operation.
Surgery
An operating room or a laboratory of a surgeon or of a hospital's surgical staff
How long has the patient been in surgery?.
Operation
An unethical or illegal business
A fencing operation for stolen goods.
Surgery
A physician's, dentist's, or veterinarian's office.
Operation
(Medicine) A surgical procedure for remedying an injury, ailment, defect, or dysfunction.
Surgery
The period during which a physician, dentist, or veterinarian consults with or treats patients in the office.
Operation
(Mathematics) A process or action, such as addition, substitution, transposition, or differentiation, performed in a specified sequence and in accordance with specific rules.
Surgery
(medicine) A procedure involving major incisions to remove, repair, or replace a part of a body.
Surgery is often necessary to prevent cancer from spreading.
Operation
A logical operation.
Surgery
(medicine) The medical specialty related to the performance of surgical procedures.
Operation
(Computers) An action resulting from a single instruction.
Surgery
A room or department where surgery is performed.
Operation
A military or naval action, campaign, or mission.
Surgery
(British) A doctor's office.
I dropped in on the surgery as I was passing to show the doctor my hemorrhoids.
Operation
Operations The headquarters or center from which a military action, flights into and out of an airfield, or other activities are controlled.
Surgery
(British) Any arrangement where people arrive and wait for an interview with certain people, particularly a politician. cf. clinic.
Our MP will be holding a surgery in the village hall on Tuesday.
Operation
Operations The division of an organization that carries out the major planning and operating functions.
Surgery
A pre-packaged bankruptcy or "quick bankruptcy".
Operation
The method by which a device performs its function.
It is dangerous to look at the beam of a laser while it is in operation.
Surgery
(topology) The production of a manifold by removing parts of one manifold and replacing them with corresponding parts of others.
Operation
The method or practice by which actions are done.
Surgery
Drastic changes made to anything.
Operation
The act or process of operating; agency; the exertion of power, physical, mechanical, or moral.
Surgery
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Operation
A planned undertaking.
The police ran an operation to get vagrants off the streets.
The Katrina relief operation was considered botched.
Surgery
Compiler evidently performs some major surgery on your code each time you use the
await keyword.}}Operation
A business or organization.
We run our operation from a storefront.
They run a multinational produce-supply operation.
Surgery
The art of healing by manual operation; that branch of medical science which treats of manual operations for the healing of diseases or injuries of the body; that branch of medical science which has for its object the cure of local injuries or diseases, as wounds or fractures, tumors, etc., whether by manual operation or by medicines and constitutional treatment.
Operation
(medicine) A surgical procedure.
She had an operation to remove her appendix.
Surgery
A surgeon's operating room or laboratory.
Operation
A procedure for generating a value from one or more other values (the operands);
a function which maps zero or more (but typically two) operands to a single output value.
a function which maps zero or more (but typically two) operands to a single output value.
The number of operands associated with an operation is called its arity; an operation of arity 2 is called a binary operation.
Surgery
The branch of medical science that treats disease or injury by operative procedures;
He is professor of surgery at the Harvard Medical School
Operation
(military) A military campaign (e.g. Operation Desert Storm)
Surgery
A room where a doctor or dentist can be consulted;
He read the warning in the doctor's surgery
Operation
(obsolete) Effect produced; influence.
Surgery
A room in a hospital equipped for the performance of surgical operations;
Great care is taken to keep the operating rooms aseptic
Operation
The act or process of operating; agency; the exertion of power, physical, mechanical, or moral.
The pain and sickness caused by manna are the effects of its operation on the stomach.
Speculative painting, without the assistance of manual operation, can never attain to perfection.
Surgery
A medical procedure involving an incision with instruments; performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body;
They will schedule the operation as soon as an operating room is available
He died while undergoing surgery
Operation
The method of working; mode of action.
Surgery
The performance of operative procedures to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body.
The patient needed surgery to remove the tumor.
Operation
That which is operated or accomplished; an effect brought about in accordance with a definite plan; as, military or naval operations.
Surgery
The time when a medical professional is available for consultation.
The doctor held surgery in the morning to see patients.
Operation
Effect produced; influence.
The bards . . . had great operation on the vulgar.
Operation
Something to be done; some transformation to be made upon quantities or mathematical objects, the transformation being indicated either by rules or symbols.
Operation
Any methodical action of the hand, or of the hand with instruments, on the human body, to produce a curative or remedial effect, as in amputation, etc.
Operation
A business especially one run on a large scale;
A large-scale farming operation
A multinational operation
They paid taxes on every stage of the operation
They had to consolidate their operations
Operation
A planned activity involving many people performing various actions;
They organized a rescue operation
The biggest police operation in French history
Running a restaurant is quite an operation
Consolidate the companies various operations
Operation
A process or series of acts especially of a practical or mechanical nature involved in a particular form of work;
The operations in building a house
Certain machine tool operations
Operation
The state of being in effect or being operative;
That rule is no longer in operation
Operation
A medical procedure involving an incision with instruments; performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living body;
They will schedule the operation as soon as an operating room is available
He died while undergoing surgery
Operation
Activity by a military or naval force (as a maneuver or campaign);
It was a joint operation of the navy and air force
Operation
(computer science) data processing in which the result is completely specified by a rule (especially the processing that results from a single instruction);
It can perform millions of operations per second
Operation
Process or manner of functioning or operating;
The power of its engine determine its operation
The plane's operation in high winds
They compared the cooking performance of each oven
The jet's performance conformed to high standards
Operation
(mathematics) calculation by mathematical methods;
The problems at the end of the chapter demonstrated the mathematical processes involved in the derivation
They were learning the basic operations of arithmetic
Operation
(psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents;
The process of thinking
The cognitive operation of remembering
Operation
The activity of operating something (a machine or business etc.);
Her smooth operation of the vehicle gave us a surprisingly comfortable ride
Operation
The condition of functioning or being active.
The power plant was in operation for decades before its closure.
Common Curiosities
Can the term operation extend its use beyond medical contexts?
Yes, the term operation can refer to any series of actions intended to accomplish a clear objective in various fields like military or business.
Is an operation a planned, organized activity or procedure?
Yes, an operation is any planned, organized activity or procedure to achieve a specific result.
Can the term operation be used to refer to business operations?
Yes, operation can be used in the context of business operations where it represents a series of organized activities or procedures to achieve business goals.
Does surgery specifically refer to a medical procedure involving incision?
Yes, surgery specifically denotes a medical procedure involving an incision with instruments.
Is surgery strictly confined to the medical domain?
Absolutely, surgery is strictly related to medical interventions involving manual or operative procedures.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
