circumcise

[ sur-kuh m-sahyz ]

/ ˈsɜr kəmˌsaɪz /

verb (used with object), cir·cum·cised, cir·cum·cis·ing.

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.

Nearby words

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)

Related formscir·cum·cis·er, noun

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

Examples from the Web for circumcise

To those who circumcise for religious purposes, the criminalization of the ritual is nothing more than religious discrimination.
Europe Goes After Circumcision|Barbie Latza Nadeau|August 24, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Saint Paul said that we ought rather to circumcise the heart.
Skin In The Game|Bernard Avishai|July 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Most Americans circumcise their sons for perceived health reasons.
San Francisco's Circumcision Ban|Adam Winkler|May 23, 2011|DAILY BEAST
God was angry with Moses for delaying, if not neglecting, to circumcise his child.
Bertha and Her Baptism|Nehemiah Adams

O that people did but know this to cleanse them, to circumcise them, to quicken them, and to make them new creatures indeed!
A Brief Account of the Rise and Progress of the People Called Quakers|William Penn
Infant deformation is not practised in any form by the Mafulu people; nor do they circumcise their children.
The Mafulu|Robert W. Williamson
It may be asked why all this care and trouble, and not circumcise at once?
History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present|Peter Charles Remondino
God will circumcise thine heart, and thy children's heart, that thou mayest love him with all thine heart.
The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal|Blaise Pascal

British Dictionary definitions for circumcise

circumcise

/ (ˈsɜːkəmˌsaɪz) /

verb (tr)

to remove the foreskin of (a male)

to incise surgically the skin over the clitoris of (a female)

to remove the clitoris of (a female)

to perform the religious rite of circumcision on (someone)

Derived Formscircumciser, noun

Word Origin for circumcise

C13: from Latin circumcīdere, from circum- + caedere to cut

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 circumcise

circumcise

mid-13c., "to cut off the foreskin," from Old French circoncisier "circumcise" (12c., Modern French circoncire), from Latin circumcisus, past participle of circumcidere "to cut round, to cut trim, to cut off" (see circumcision). Related: Circumcised; circumcising.

Medicine definitions for circumcise

circumcise

[ sûr′kəm-sīz′ ]

v.

To perform a circumcision.