Etymograph

English

mutilation

Mutilation comes from Latin mutilatio ‘a maiming or mutilating, mutilation’, and goes back to mutilō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmutilō1
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmutilatio2‘a maiming or mutilating, mutilation’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2015mutilation2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin mutilatio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English mutilation
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Indian women who are fighting to stop genital mutilation: “The cruel practice of female genital mutilation is banned…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmutilōWiktionary, Latin mutilatio
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmutilatioWiktionary, English mutilation‘a maiming or mutilating, mutilation’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2015mutilationWiktionary, English mutilation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Indian women who are fighting to stop genital mutilation: “The cruel practice of female genital mutilation is banned…”

The story

Latin mutilatio; compare French mutilation.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin mutilō

mozzarella, 1 more

Today it means

noun The act of mutilating or the state of being mutilated.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “mutilation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin mutilatio. 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 mutilō / mutilation

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