amputate, v.
(ˈæmpjuːteɪt)
[f. L. amputāt- ppl. stem of amputā-re to cut off or away, f. am- = amb- about + putā-re to prune, lop.]
1. gen. To cut or lop off, e.g. the branches of trees in pruning. Obs. exc. as a fig. use of 2.
| 1638 Penit. Conf. xii. (1657) 335 'Tis not impossible for a quick and fruitful branch to be amputated and cut off. 1731 Bailey, Amputate, to cut off; in gardening, to lop or prune. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. ii. 268 The Government..finding this or that damaged part of the population, and immediately amputating it for removal. |
Hence, by specialization, the proper term for,
2. To cut off a limb or other part of an animal body. Also absol.
| 1639 [See amputating.] 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. i. 19 Members amputated and divided from the Body. 1676 Wiseman Chirurg. Treat. vi. v, It was complained, that their surgeons were too active in amputating fractured members. 1764 Woolcomb in Phil. Trans. LX. 97 It was not now practicable to amputate. 1809 Wellington in Gen. Disp. IV. 328 Paget..was wounded in the right arm, which was amputated. 1826 H. Coleridge Six Months in W. Ind. 275 Two..sharks who would have amputated a baby's arm as soon as looked at it. |