"displace, put out of regular position," especially of a limb or organ of the body, c. 1600, from Medieval Latin dislocatus, past participle of dislocare "put out of place," from Latin dis- "away" (see dis-) + locare "to place," from locus "a place," which is of uncertain origin. Related: Dislocated; dislocating. Earlier as a past-participle adjective, "out of joint" (c. 1400).
1706, "hip-joint," from Latin coxa "hip," which, according to de Vaan, is from PIE *koks-h- "limb, joint," and is cognate with Sanskrit kaksa-, Avestan kasa- "armpit," Old Irish coss "foot." As the first joint of the leg of an insect, crustacean or arachnid, by 1826. Cox for "thigh" was used in medical writings from c. 1400. Related: Coxalgia, coxitis.
1610s, "a cutting off of tree branches, a pruning," also "operation of cutting off a limb, etc., of a body," from French amputation or directly from Latin amputationem (nominative amputatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of amputare "to cut off, lop off; cut around, to prune," from am(bi)- "around" (from PIE root *ambhi- "around") + putare "to prune, trim" (from PIE root *pau- (2) "to cut, strike, stamp").
1610s, "one who lengthens (an action)," Modern Latin agent noun from Latin protrahere "to draw forward" (see protraction). Medieval Latin protractor meant "one who calls or drags another into court." The surveying sense of "instrument for measuring and drawing angles on paper" is recorded from 1650s. As "muscle which serves to extend a limb or member," by 1861.
early 15c., "a drawing or pulling" (originally the pulling of a dislocated limb to reposition it), from Medieval Latin tractionem (nominative tractio) "a drawing" (mid-13c.), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin trahere "to pull, draw" (see tract (n.1)). Sense of "friction between a wheel and the surface it moves upon" first appears 1825. In modern medical care, "a sustained pull to a part of the body to hold fractured bones in position," 1885.
1530s, of things (writing or books) "disfigure, maim by depriving of a characteristic part;" 1560s, of persons, "cut off a limb or any important part of;" from Latin mutilatus, past participle of mutilare "to cut off, lop off, cut short; maim, mutilate," from mutilus "maimed," which is of uncertain etymology. Properly, to deprive of some principal part, especially by cutting off, and emphasizing the injury to completeness and beauty. Related: Mutilated; mutilating.
"state of being round or circular," late 14c., from round (adj.) + -ness.
Roundness applies with equal freedom to a circle, a sphere, a cylinder, or a cone, and, by extension, to forms that by approach suggest any one of these : as, roundness of limb or cheek. Rotundity now applies usually to spheres and to forms suggesting a sphere or a hemisphere : as, the rotundity of the earth or of a barrel ; rotundity of abdomen. [Century Dictionary]
"lateral curvature of the spine," 1706, medical Latin, from Latinized form of Greek skoliosis "crookedness," from skolios "bent, curved," from PIE root *skel- "bend, curve," with derivatives referring to crooked parts of the body (as in Greek skelos "leg, limb; Latin scelus "malice, badness, crime;" Old High German scelah, Old English sceolh "oblique, curved, squinting;" Albanian çalë "lame"). Distinguished from lordosis and kyphosis. Related: Scoliotic.
