mutilation

pronunciation

How to pronounce mutilation in British English: UK [ˌmju:tɪ'leɪʃn]word uk audio image

How to pronounce mutilation in American English: US [ˌmjutɪ'leɪʃn] word us audio image

  • Noun:
    an injury that deprives you of a limb or other important body part

Word Origin

mutilation (n.)
1520s, in Scots law, "act of disabling or wounding a limb," from Middle French mutilation and directly from Late Latin mutilationem (nominative mutilatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin mutilare "to cut or lop off," from mutilus "maimed," which perhaps is cognate with Greek mytilos "hornless." Of things, "a destroying of unity by damaging or removing a part," from 1630s.