demembration
(diːmɛmˈbreɪʃən)
[ad. med.L. dēmembrātiōn-em, n. of action f. dēmembrāre to dismember: see prec. Cf. OF. demanbration (Godef.).]
The cutting off of a limb; mutilation; dismemberment. (Chiefly in Sc. Law.)
| 1597 ed. Sc. Acts, Jas. IV, §28 heading, Anent man-slayers taken, or fugitive: and of Demembration. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. Treat. 134 Mutilation and demembration is punished as slauchter. 1746–7 Act 20 Geo. II, Any jurisdiction inferring the loss of life or demembration is abrogated. 1857 Jeffreys Roxburghshire II. iv. 269 The slaughter and demembration of a number of Turnbulls. 1861 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl., Demembration..is applied to the offence of maliciously cutting off, or otherwise separating any limb, or member, from the body of another. |
| fig. 1828–40 Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 221 Demembration of the kingdom could not for a moment be entertained. |