What does suturing mean?
Suturing is the medical practice of closing a wound or joining separated tissue by placing stitches through the tissue. The resulting stitches, called sutures, may dissolve naturally or be removed after healing, depending on the material used. As a noun, “suturing” usually names the procedure itself: “the surgeon performed the suturing.” As a verb form, it describes the act of making the stitches and can modify a following object: “She was suturing the wound.” The term is used in surgery, emergency medicine, obstetrics, and other clinical settings. Although it may evoke needles, thread, and some degree of discomfort, “suturing” is a technical and potentially reassuring term because it describes a controlled method of closing tissue and supporting healing.
The action or process of joining the edges of a wound or divided tissue with stitches.
"The surgeon completed the suturing before closing the operating theatre."
Most often used as an uncountable procedural noun; plural forms are uncommon.
To close a wound or join divided tissue by making stitches through it.
"The physician sutured the laceration under local anaesthetic."
This is the present participle of the verb “suture.”
Rare; “suturing” is normally used as an uncountable noun.
"The two suturings were completed without complication."
A suture comes from the same Latin root as the everyday verb “sew”: what begins as sewing can become a medical stitch.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does suturing come from?
The word is formed from “suture” with the present-participle ending -ing. “Suture” entered English from Latin sutūra, meaning “a seam” or “stitch,” which derives from Latin sūtere, “to sew.” The Latin root is cognate with the English word “sew,” so suturing is, in a broad sense, sewing applied to medical treatment.
How suturing is actually used
In medicine, “suturing” is more precise than the general term “stitching.” It may function as a verbal noun, as in “the suturing of the wound,” or as the present participle of the verb “suture.”