vivisection

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   surgical cutting into, or other invasive experimentation on, a living animal or organism for scientific research

   The debate asked whether knowledge gained through vivisection could justify the suffering involved.

Simplified etymology

Vivisection is an early-18th-century formation joining Latin vivus, ‘alive’, with section, ultimately from secare, ‘to cut’.

Built from Latin vīvus ("alive") + sectiō ("a cutting"), the latter from secāre ("to cut"); compare French vivisection. Its elements therefore mean literally "cutting of the living." The verb vivisect was later back-formed from the noun.

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External links

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• Wiktionary