excision

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the surgical removal of an organ, tumor, or other body tissue by cutting

   The surgeon recommended complete excision of the small tumor.

2. 2
   noun

   the deliberate cutting out or deletion of material from a text or other whole

   The editor's excision of two paragraphs made the argument harder to follow.

Through French excision from Latin excisio, meaning a cutting out, from excidere, to cut out. The Latin verb combines ex-, meaning out, with caedere, meaning to cut. The medical and editorial senses preserve that literal structure.

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