circumcise

English

Etymology

From Middle English circumcisen, from Old French circumciser (modern French circoncire) and its etymon Latin circumcīsus, the past participle of circumcīdō (“cut around”), from circum (“about, around; through”) + caedō (“cut, hew”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsəːkəmsʌɪz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɚkəmˌsaɪz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cir‧cum‧cise

Verb

circumcise (third-person singular simple present circumcises, present participle circumcising, simple past and past participle circumcised)

1. To surgically remove the foreskin (prepuce) from the penis of.
2. (sometimes proscribed) To surgically remove the clitoris (clitoridectomy), clitoral hood, or labia.
3. (military, nautical, slang) To trim off the portion of the barrel liner of a large-caliber naval gun that protrudes from the end of the barrel as a result of the liner slowly stretching from prolonged fire.

Synonyms

• circ (informal), snip (informal)
• cut (informal)
• posthectomize (rare, medical)

Derived terms

• circumcisable
• circumcisee
• circumciser
• circumcisor
• recircumcise

Related terms

• circumcision

Translations

to remove the foreskin from the penis

• Arabic: خَتَنَ (ḵatana)

  Moroccan Arabic: ختن (ḵattan), طهر (ṭahhar)

• Armenian: թլփատել (hy) (tʻlpʻatel)
• Asturian: circuncidar
• Azerbaijani: kəsdirmək, sünnət etdirmək
• Bulgarian: обрязвам (bg) (obrjazvam)
• Catalan: circumcidar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 割鳥皮 / 割鸟皮 (koah-chiáu-phê)

  Mandarin: 割包皮 (zh) (gē bāopí)

• Czech: obřezat (cs) pf, obřezávat impf
• Danish: omskære
• Dutch: besnijden (nl)
• Egyptian: (sꜥb), (fḫt m ṯꜣm)
• Esperanto: cirkumcidi (eo)
• Faroese: umskera
• Finnish: ympärileikata (fi)
• French: circoncire (fr)
• Galician: circuncidar
• Georgian: წინდაცვეთა (c̣indacveta)
• German: beschneiden (de)
• Greek: περιτέμνω (el) (peritémno)

  Ancient Greek: περιτέμνω (peritémnō)

• Hebrew: מל (mal)
• Hindi: ख़तना करना (xatnā karnā)
• Hungarian: körülmetél (hu)
• Icelandic: umskera
• Ido: cirkoncizar (io)
• Indonesian: menyunat (id), mengkhitan (id)
• Irish: imghearr, timpeallghearr
• Italian: circoncidere (it)
• Japanese: 割礼を行なう (かつれいをおこなう, katsurei o okonau)
• Korean: 할례를 하다 (hallyereul hada)
• Latin: circumcīdō
• Lithuanian: apipjaustyti (lt)
• Macedonian: обрежува (obrežuva), сунетисување n (sunetisuvanje)
• Malay: mengkhatankan
• Māori: poka kirimata, kokoti
• Nandi: muratan
• Occitan: circomcir
• Old English: ymbċeorfan, ymbsnīþan
• Polish: obrzezać (pl), obrzezywać (pl)
• Portuguese: circuncidar (pt)
• Romanian: circumcide (ro)
• Russian: соверша́ть обреза́ние impf (soveršátʹ obrezánije), соверши́ть обреза́ние pf (soveršítʹ obrezánije), обреза́ть (ru) impf (obrezátʹ), обре́зать (ru) pf (obrézatʹ) (impf. and pf. differ in word stress)
• Slovak: obrezať pf, obrezávať impf, obrezovať impf
• Spanish: circuncidar (es)
• Swedish: omskära (sv)
• Turkish: sünnet etmek (tr) (transitive), sünnet olmak (tr) (intransitive)
• Vietnamese: cắt bao quy đầu
• Volapük: säprepüdön
• Walloon: discaloter (wa), dischafyî (wa)
• Welsh: enwaedu (cy)
• Yiddish: ייִדישן (yidishn)

to remove the clitoris or labia

• Bulgarian: обрязвам (bg) (obrjazvam)
• Czech: obřezat (cs)
• Danish: omskære
• Finnish: ympärileikata (fi)
• Hungarian: körülmetél (hu)
• Icelandic: umskera
• Korean: 할례를 하다 (hallyereul hada)
• Swedish: omskära (sv)

Latin

Etymology 1

Form of circumcīsus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kɪr.kʊŋˈkiː.sɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃir.kun̠ʲˈt͡ʃiː.s̬e]

Participle

circumcīse

1. vocative masculine singular of circumcīsus

Etymology 2

From circumcīsus (“cut, reduced”) +‎ -ē (“-ly”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kɪr.kʊŋˈkiː.seː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃir.kun̠ʲˈt͡ʃiː.s̬e]

Adverb

circumcīsē (comparative circumcīsius, superlative circumcīsissimē)

1. concisely, briefly

References

• “circumcise”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “circumcise”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃir.kumˈt͡ʃi.se/
• Rhymes: -ise
• Hyphenation: cir‧cum‧ci‧se

Adjective

circumcise f pl or n pl

1. feminine/neuter plural of circumcis (“circumcised”)

Verb

circumcise

1. third-person singular simple perfect indicative of circumcide (“circumcise”)