ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION According to Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 28th edition, amputation is derived from the Latin word amputare, to cut away, from amb (about) and putare (to prune), although this word has been reserved to indicate punishment for criminals. In the surgical context, the word can be found in many forms in 16th century French texts and from early English writers. Synonyms such as “extirpation” (16th century French texts tended to use extirper), “disarticulation,” and “dismemberment” (from the Old French desmembrer) were more commonly used before the 17th century to describe limb loss or removal. However, the English derivation, “amputation” was first used in surgical references in the early 17th century, and by the century end, this term was used ubiquitously as the accepted medical translation (1).
