mutilation
mutilation Lexical Profile
mutilation Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The act or an instance of inflicting severe and disfiguring injury on a body, especially by cutting off or destroying a limb or essential part.
"Ancient legal codes frequently prescribed severe physical punishments, though modern human rights treaties strictly prohibit any form of bodily mutilation."
The act of severely damaging, altering, or spoiling an object, text, or work of art so as to ruin its integrity, quality, or value.
"The archivist expressed dismay over the mutilation of the rare medieval manuscript after discovering that several illuminated pages had been torn out."
• Rhymes for mutilation
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 16th century from Late Latin mutilationem, a noun of action from Latin mutilare ('to cut off, lop, or maim'), which itself derives from mutilus ('maimed' or 'mutilated').