The word orthopedic was coined in 1741 by Nicolas Andry, a French physician who wrote the first book on the topic. The book’s title was Orthopédie. Ortho- is Greek for straight or correct, as in orthodoxy (correct belief) and orthodontics (straight teeth).
The pédie is also Greek and stems from . In his book, Andry described how families and physicians could prevent and correct skeletal deformities in children. Of course, the means were entirely non-surgical because it would be another 100 years before general anesthesia and the concept of elective surgery came about. The graphic that Andry chose for the frontspiece of his book to illustrate his concept of straightening a child remains iconic.
In his 1828 monumental treatise, An American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster simplified the spelling of Old World entries including , programme, cheque, and . He probably would have also objected to aeroplane, had it been around then. Despite the lexicographer’s best efforts, we still have two spellings for bone surgery: orthopedic and .
Some stuffed shirts are reluctant to give up that “a” in because they say that pedo also means foot. These purists insist that means straight children, which was Andry’s intent, whereas orthopedic might mean just feet. Somehow, American paediatricians long ago became pediatricians without apparent loss of professional standing.
To my mind, Wikipedia brings the debate to an end. It says that pedo- relates to 1) children, 2) feet, 3) soil, and 4) flatulence. Or should it be ?
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Other posts at www.aboutbone.com of particular interest to orthopedic surgeons:
Giant public works project spawns new surgical specialty.
The spine surgery will help your child breathe.
The human hand. Not really that good for anything.
