am·pu·tate

[am-pyoo-teyt]
verb (used with object), am·pu·tat·ed, am·pu·tat·ing.
1.
to cut off (all or part of a limb or digit of the body), as by surgery.
2.
to prune, lop off, or remove: Because of space limitations the editor amputated the last two paragraphs of the news report.
3.
Obsolete. to prune, as branches of trees.

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

am·pu·ta·tion, noun
am·pu·ta·tive, adjective
am·pu·ta·tor, noun
non·am·pu·ta·tion, noun
post·am·pu·ta·tion, adjective
self-am·pu·ta·tion, noun
un·am·pu·tat·ed, adjective
un·am·pu·ta·tive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To amputation
00:10
Amputation is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Collins
World English Dictionary
amputate (ˈæmpjʊˌteɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
surgery to remove (all or part of a limb, esp an arm or leg)
 
[C17: from Latin amputāre, from am- around + putāre to trim, prune]
 
ampu'tation
 
n
 
'amputator
 
n

amputate (ˈæmpjʊˌteɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
surgery to remove (all or part of a limb, esp an arm or leg)
 
[C17: from Latin amputāre, from am- around + putāre to trim, prune]
 
ampu'tation
 
n
 
'amputator
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

amputation
1610s, "a cutting off of tree branches, a pruning," also "operation of cutting off a limb, etc., of a body," from L. amputationem (nom. amputatio), noun of action from amputatus, pp. of amputare "to cut off, to prune," from am(bi)- "about" + putare "to prune, trim" (see pave).

amputate
1630s, from L. amputatus, pp. of amputare "to cut off, to prune" (see amputation).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

amputate am·pu·tate (ām'py&oobreve;-tāt')
v. am·pu·tat·ed, am·pu·tat·ing, am·pu·tates
To cut off a part of the body, especially by surgery.

amputation am·pu·ta·tion (ām'py&oobreve;-tā'shən)
n.

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

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

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
But the amputation of sociologic, psychological and cognitive considerations
  makes good policy impossible.
In fact, diabetes is the leading cause of non-traumatic lower-limb amputation.
From childhood he was afflicted with a tuberculous disease which finally
  necessitated the amputation of a foot.
It involved radiation for about six weeks, followed by an amputation.
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