English
truncation
Truncation comes from Late Latin truncātiō ‘maiming, mutilating’, and goes back to Latin truncus ‘trunk, shaft, main part’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtruncus1‘trunk, shaft, main part’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtruncō2as truncāre‘to maim or mutilate by cutting off pieces’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtruncātiō2‘maiming, mutilating’
- Englishtodaytruncation2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin trunco
- 2 Wiktionary, English truncation
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtruncusWiktionary, Latin trunco‘trunk, shaft, main part’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtruncōWiktionary, English truncationas truncāre‘to maim or mutilate by cutting off pieces’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtruncātiōWiktionary, English truncation‘maiming, mutilating’
- EnglishtodaytruncationWiktionary, English truncation
Equivalent to truncate + -ion
Latin truncus ‘trunk, shaft, main part’
Latin truncō ‘maim, reduce to a trunk’
Latin truncātus ‘maimed, mutilated, having been maimed by…’
English truncate
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *twerḱ- ‘to carve, cut off, trim’
sarcasm, sarcastic, sarcoma, retrenchment, 15 more
through Latin truncus ‘trunk, shaft, main part’
trunk, trenchant, truncheon, 8 more
through Latin truncō ‘to maim or mutilate by cutting off pieces’
Today it means
noun The act of truncating or shortening (for example, words are shortened to form blend words or portmanteaus).
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “truncation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin trunco. 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 truncus / truncation