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An instrument used in surgery or medical procedures for grasping and holding objects, similar to tongs or pincers.
Usage notes
Although the Latin word is singular, this word is often treated as a plurale tantum by analogy with names for similar items such as tongs and tweezers: this forceps or these forceps (or even pair of forceps).
“forceps”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“forceps”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
forceps in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
forceps in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
“forceps”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
“forceps”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
