amputatio

Forms

amputātiō f (genitive amputātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin amputō + -tiō, a noun of action from the verb meaning “to cut off, prune”.^[2][1] De Vaan lists amputō among the compounds of putō (“to prune”), which he takes to be derived from the adjective putus (“pure, genuine”); the original sense of the family was cutting unwanted branches off a tree.^[3] He traces it to Proto-Italic *puto- (“cut off, clean”) and Proto-Indo-European *pHu-tó-.^[3] Etymonline explains the first part as am(bi)- “around”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero is the first author to use it, of the pruning of vine shoots in his dialogue on old age.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

From the pruning of plants the word passed to the cutting off of a part of the body: Valerius Maximus speaks of a threatened amputation of the tongue.^[2] By metonymy Pliny the Elder uses it for the twigs cut off in pruning, which were sold as merchandise.^[2][5]

In Medieval Latin it kept the sense of cutting off, above all as a punishment: the Visigothic laws and the Frankish capitularies list the cutting off of limbs,^[7] and English records speak of the amputation of a hand.^[8] The MLW also records a figurative sense, weakness.^[7] English took the word in the 17th century, first of pruning trees and then of the surgical operation.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the pruning of vine shoots.^[2][6]
• c. 31 AD – Valerius Maximus uses it of cutting off a tongue.^[2]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for the cuttings of a shrub sold in trade.^[2][6]
• 1345 – A record of the Court of King's Bench mentions the execution of a judgement of amputation of a hand.^[8]
• 1610s – English borrows it, from French or directly from Latin, as amputation.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Pruning, lopping off of branches or shoots.^[2][5]
2. The cutting off of a part of the body, amputation.^[2][8]
3. (metonymy) Twigs removed by pruning, cuttings.^[2][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) Weakness.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press