decapitate

[dih-kap-i-teyt]

verb (used with object)

decapitated, decapitating 

1. to cut off the head of; behead.

   Many people were decapitated during the French Revolution.

decapitate

/ dɪˈkæpɪˌteɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to behead

Other Word Forms

• decapitation noun
• decapitator noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of decapitate¹

1605–15; < Late Latin dēcapitātus, past participle of dēcapitāre, equivalent to dē- de- + capit- (stem of caput ) head + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of decapitate¹

C17: from Late Latin dēcapitāre, from Latin _de- + caput head

Example Sentences

“I currently know that he did not decapitate it, even though he said that’s what he was doing, so that’s what I had assumed that he did,” she said Wednesday.

From Los Angeles Times

They can also be decapitated with a special sword wielded by demon slayers.

From Los Angeles Times

King Toera was killed and decapitated: his head sent to Paris where it was placed in the archives of the Museum of Natural History.

From BBC

In June, the bodies of 20 people - four of them decapitated - were found in Sinaloa, a state gripped by gang violence.

From BBC

Mosquera "decapitated and dismembered" the pair, froze parts of their remains and brought the rest in suitcases to Bristol.

From BBC