Added 8 October 2026
amputate
/ˈæmpjʊteɪt/ verb
Latin root: amputō Wiktionary
verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about amputate at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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Remove surgically.
amputate limbs
Origin
From Latin amputō (“prune, cut away”). The original sense of pruning (a tree, etc.) became obsolete. The OED considers uses related to anything other than an animal limb to be figurative uses of the modern sense.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)