Etymograph

English

amputee

Amputee comes from Latin amputatus ‘cut off’, from amputō ‘to amputate’, and ultimately from putus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputus1
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputō1‘cut back, prune’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamputō2as amputare, perfect passive participle‘to amputate’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamputatus2‘cut off’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentamputée2
  6. Englishtodayamputee2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin amputo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English amputee

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputusWiktionary, Latin amputo
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputōWiktionary, Latin amputo‘cut back, prune’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamputōWiktionary, English amputeeas amputare, perfect passive participle‘to amputate’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamputatusWiktionary, English amputee‘cut off’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentamputéeWiktionary, English amputee
  6. EnglishtodayamputeeWiktionary, English amputee

Linked words

through Latin putus

counter, discount, countable, puta, 10 more

through Latin putō ‘cut back, prune’

account, count, dispute, imp, computation, compute, putative, indisputable, indisputably, repute, raconteur, imputation, disputation, disputable, depute, 12 more

Today it means

noun A person who has had one or more limbs removed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “amputee”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin amputo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin putus / amputee

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