Etymograph

English

circumcision

Circumcision comes from Latin circumcīsiō ‘circumcision, a cutting around’, from caedō ‘to cut, hew, fell’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-1‘to cut, hew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidō1‘to cut, hew, fell’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedō1‘to cut, hew, fell’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircumcīdō1‘cut around’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircumcīsiō1‘circumcision, a cutting around’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400circumcisioun1
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500circumcisioun1
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1697circumcision1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English circumcision
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1697, Benjamin Keach: “So ſay I , did the Covenant of circumciſion,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-Wiktionary, English circumcision‘to cut, hew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydetiWiktionary, English circumcisionreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidōWiktionary, English circumcision‘to cut, hew, fell’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedōWiktionary, English circumcision‘to cut, hew, fell’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircumcīdōWiktionary, English circumcision‘cut around’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircumcīsiōWiktionary, English circumcision‘circumcision, a cutting around’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400circumcisiounWiktionary, English circumcision
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500circumcisiounWiktionary, English circumcision
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1697circumcisionWiktionary, English circumcision. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1697, Benjamin Keach: “So ſay I , did the Covenant of circumciſion,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- ‘to cut, hew’

hit, 26 more

through Proto-Italic *kaidō ‘to cut, hew, fell’

scissors, 24 more

through Latin caedō ‘to cut, hew, fell’

decision, cement, precise, concise, chisel, scissor, incision, incisive, excision, incisor, caesium, 25 more

Today it means

noun The surgical excision of the foreskin and usually all or most of the penile frenulum.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “circumcision”. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- / circumcision

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