amputate

[ am-pyoo-teyt ]

/ ˈæm pyʊˌteɪt /

verb (used with object), am·pu·tat·ed, am·pu·tat·ing.

to cut off (all or part of a limb or digit of the body), as by surgery.

to prune, lop off, or remove: Because of space limitations the editor amputated the last two paragraphs of the news report.

Obsolete. to prune, as branches of trees.

Origin of amputate

1630–40; < Latin amputātus pruned, trimmed (past participle of amputāre), equivalent to am(bi) around (cf. ambi-) + put- trim + -ātus -ate¹

Related forms

am·pu·ta·tion, nounam·pu·ta·tive, adjectiveam·pu·ta·tor, nounnon·am·pu·ta·tion, noun

post·am·pu·ta·tion, adjectiveself-am·pu·ta·tion, nounun·am·pu·tat·ed, adjectiveun·am·pu·ta·tive, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for amputation

One year after the Boston bombing, a maimed survivor faces the choice of amputation.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, April 12, 2014||April 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
KIEV, Ukraine—Outside Kiev, outside Ukraine, academics can ask if the country might be better off after the amputation of Crimea.
Ukraine Hunts for a Scapegoat|Anna Nemtsova|March 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Like Lewis, Huxley lost his wife to cancer; he said it was like ‘an amputation’.
Three Great Men Died That Day: JFK, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley|John Garth|November 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In some cases, Roth said, amputation is the only solution to “fixing” horrible infections or deformities.
Illegal Butt Injections Are on the Rise and Women Are at Risk|Lizzie Crocker, Caitlin Dickson|October 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Gangrene is not curable by current medical intervention once past a certain point in its progression, except by amputation.
Can Meditation Cure Disease?|Maureen Seaberg|December 25, 2010|DAILY BEAST
One poor fellow had his ears slit, and another received injuries which rendered the amputation of an arm necessary.
Scenes and Adventures in Affghanistan|William Taylor
A successful excision, especially in arm, saves a limb nearly perfect; an amputation at best is only the stump for a wooden one.
A Manual of the Operations of Surgery|Joseph Bell
Amputation and death stared its members in their gloomy faces.
Elsie's Winter Trip|Martha Finley
Shady viewed this amputation closely and whined with anxiety as it proceeded.
The Yellow Horde|Hal G. Evarts
The preservation of the skin is therefore a cardinal principle in the amputation of all parts in which it is at all feasible.
Special Report on Diseases of Cattle|U.S. Department of Agriculture

British Dictionary definitions for amputation

amputate

/ (ˈæmpjʊˌteɪt) /

verb

surgery to remove (all or part of a limb, esp an arm or leg)

Derived Formsamputation, nounamputator, noun

Word Origin for amputate

C17: from Latin amputāre, from am- around + putāre to trim, prune

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for amputation

amputation

1610s, "a cutting off of tree branches, a pruning," also "operation of cutting off a limb, etc., of a body," from Middle French amputation or directly from Latin amputationem (nominative amputatio), noun of action from past participle stem of amputare "cut off, lop off; cut around, to prune," from am(bi)- "about" (see ambi-) + putare "to prune, trim" (see pave).

amputate

1630s, back-formation from amputation or else from Latin amputatus, past participle of amputare "to cut off, to prune." Related: Amputated; amputating.

Medicine definitions for amputation

amputation

[ ăm′pyu-tā′shən ]

n.

Surgical removal of all or part of a limb, an organ, or projecting part or process of the body.

Traumatic or spontaneous loss of a limb, organ, or part.

amputate

[ ăm′pyu-tāt′ ]

v.

To cut off a part of the body, especially by surgery.

amputate

verb (used with object), am·pu·tat·ed, am·pu·tat·ing.

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Nearby words

Origin of amputate

Examples from the Web for amputation

amputate

verb

Word Origin for amputate

amputation

amputate

amputation

n.

amputate

v.