circumcise
Americanverb (used with object)
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circumcises,
present (3rd person singular)
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circumcised,
past participle, past
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circumcising
present participle
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to remove the prepuce of (a male), especially as a religious rite.
-
to remove the clitoris, prepuce, or labia of (a female).
-
to purify spiritually.
verb
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to remove the foreskin of (a male)
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to incise surgically the skin over the clitoris of (a female)
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to remove the clitoris of (a female)
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to perform the religious rite of circumcision on (someone)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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circumcisesimple
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circumcisessimple
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have circumcisedperfect
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has circumcisedperfect
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am circumcisingprogressive
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are circumcisingprogressive
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is circumcisingprogressive
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have been circumcisingperfect progressive
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has been circumcisingperfect progressive
Past
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circumcisedsimple
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had circumcisedperfect
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was circumcisingprogressive
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were circumcisingprogressive
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had been circumcisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of circumcise
1200–50; Middle English circumcisen < Latin circumcīsus (past participle of circumcīdere to cut around), equivalent to circum- circum- + -cīsus ( -cīd- cut + -tus past participle suffix; see -cide)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Those choices can be as substantial as whether to circumcise a baby or as minor as giving in and deciding that yes, fine, a 3-year-old can wear a ballerina costume to school.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 13, 2022
We can all see the circumcision data, but some of us will circumcise our kids and some of us won't, because there are small pluses and small minuses and preferences are important.
From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2021
Her lyrics are often clever throughout: “Don’t circumcise my circumstance,” she sings in one song.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 30, 2020
For some families, the decision about whether to circumcise a boy is a cultural or religious decision, while others may consider hygiene or social reasons.
From Fox News ● Jan. 7, 2020
You know, they’d let him circumcise children too.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
Because of the lack of information, the U.S. is the only country that circumcises most of its male infants for nonreligious reasons.
From Time Magazine Archive
He circumcises the semi-Jew, Timothy; and he performs his vows in the temple.
From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg
Cir′cumciser, one who circumcises; Circumci′sion, the act of circumcising.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
So Noureddin gave him leave, whereupon another rose and said, 'O my lord, I wish to go to my brother, for he circumcises his son to-day.'
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume I by John Payne
She said furthermore, "As my son hath removed my reproach, so Joshua, his descendant, will roll away a reproach from the Israelites, when he circumcises them beyond Jordan."
From The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 by Henrietta Szold
Specifically, he said, the study relied on a tiny sample of Muslim boys circumcised in hospitals rather than at home -- the dominant cultural practice.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2025
She’s opposed, for example, to having their son circumcised.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2025
"My husband was thinking that if he caught a shark then we could pay to have the baby circumcised," she tells the BBC, clearly still distressed about his death.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2024
Burkina Faso made the most significant progress, reducing the proportion of women between 15 and 49 who were circumcised from 80% to 30% over three decades.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
When you’re circumcised with a group of people, you always identify yourself as part of that group.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
By not circumcising my son, have I made a horrible mistake?
From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2019
The other notable western nations circumcising baby boys are Canada and Australia.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 20, 2019
In 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared that the benefits of circumcising boys outweighed the risks of the procedure.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2016
Advocates say that in recent years doctors have begun making clandestine visits to villages, arriving at night and often under the guise of circumcising boys.
From Newsweek ● Mar. 17, 2015
And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.—Luke ii.
From The Doré Gallery of Bible Illustrations, Volume 6 by Gustave Doré
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