Etymograph

English

excisor

Excisor comes from Latin excīsor ‘one who cuts out’, 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 CEexcīdō1‘to cut or hew out, off, or down’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcīsor2‘one who cuts out’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2010excisor2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin excisor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English excisor
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2010, Population Reference Bureau, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Data and Trends: “Typically, traditional excisors have carried out the procedure, but…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-Wiktionary, Latin excisor‘to cut, hew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydetiWiktionary, Latin excisorreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidōWiktionary, Latin excisor‘to cut, hew, fell’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedōWiktionary, Latin excisor‘to cut, hew, fell’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcīdōWiktionary, Latin excisor‘to cut or hew out, off, or down’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcīsorWiktionary, English excisor‘one who cuts out’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2010excisorWiktionary, English excisor. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2010, Population Reference Bureau, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Data and Trends: “Typically, traditional excisors have carried out the procedure, but…”

Equivalent to excise + -or

Middle Dutch excijs

English excise

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, circumcision, incision, chisel, incisive, caesium, scissor, incisor, 25 more

Today it means

noun One who excises, especially one who performs female genital cutting.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “excisor”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin excisor. 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- / excisor

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