It is a marvel of words and language that such disparate entities as bacteria, culture, and surgeons often find themselves in the same dish. Yet when one lifts the magic lid and pursues the ties of etymologic affiliations, one is enchanted by the fascinating thread that runs through words from their philologic beginnings to the manifold meanings acquired on the way. How many of us think, for example, of the connotations of culture and sensitivity when we order a "C & S" for a specimen of pus, when the word culture alone could take one back to mother earth or evoke the vision of parthenons of civilization; could lead to safaris of microbe hunters or to defenders of national heritage. With this essay the World Journal of Surgery begins a new feature on the roots and genealogy of surgical terms under the editorship of Professor William Gunn, author of Dictionnaire des Secours d'Urgence and the Multilingual Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and International Relief. It is appropriate for this journal that the series should begin with the word Surgeon.