circumcise
[sur-kuh m-sahyz]
- 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.
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Origin of circumcise
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for circumcise
Contemporary Examples
Jews circumcise their infant boys on the eighth day of life; Muslims generally do so before age 10.
Do Circumcision Bans Protect Kids’ Rights, Or Infringe Upon Parents’?Michael Schulson
February 2, 2014
To those who circumcise for religious purposes, the criminalization of the ritual is nothing more than religious discrimination.
Saint Paul said that we ought rather to circumcise the heart.
Most Americans circumcise their sons for perceived health reasons.
Historical Examples
God was angry with Moses for delaying, if not neglecting, to circumcise his child.
Bertha and Her BaptismNehemiah Adams
It may be asked why all this care and trouble, and not circumcise at once?
History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the PresentPeter Charles Remondino
It is a singular commencement of his mission, to circumcise the son of a Greek father after he had become a Christian.
Supernatural Religion, Vol. III. (of III)Walter Richard Cassels
They circumcise the Males at 11 or 12 Years of Age, or older; and many are circumcised at once.
To conclude, Paul refused to circumcise Titus for the reason that the false apostles wanted to compel him to circumcise Titus.
Commentary on the Epistle to the GalatiansMartin Luther
circumcise
- 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)
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for circumcise
v.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
circumcise
(sûr′kəm-sīz′)- To perform a circumcision.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.