amputation

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the surgical removal of all or part of a limb or other body part

   Severe infection made amputation of the damaged toe unavoidable.

2. 2
   noun

   the loss or severing of a limb through injury rather than surgery

   The accident caused a traumatic amputation below the knee.

From Latin amputātiō, 'a cutting off' or 'pruning,' from amputāre, 'to cut around or cut away.' Amputāre combines ambi-, 'around,' with putāre, 'to prune or trim'; the medical sense specializes that older cutting-away meaning.

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