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Added 9 October 2026

mutilate

/ˈmjuː.tɪˌleɪt/ verb

In Latin: discerpō Wiktionary

verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about mutilate at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Destroy or injure severely.
The madman mutilates art work
Alter so as to make unrecognizable.
The tourists murdered the French language
Destroy or injure severely.
mutilated bodies

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin mutilātus, the perfect passive participle of mutilō (“to mutilate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), itself from mutilus (“maimed”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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