1630s, "to cut off a limb," originally in English both of plants and persons; a back-formation from amputation or else from Latin amputatus, past participle 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"). Related: Amputated; amputating.

early 15c., inscisif, "slashing, cutting with a sharp edge," from Old French incisif (medical) "invasive, effective," and directly from Medieval Latin incisivus, from Latin incis-, past participle stem of incīdere "to cut into" (see incision). Originally literal; figurative sense of "mentally acute, sharply and clearly expressive" first recorded 1850 as a borrowing from French. Related: Incisively; incisiveness.

"decoration of a surface with an applied paper cut-out," by 1957, from French découpage, literally "the act of cutting out," from decouper "to cut out" (12c., Old French decoper), from dé- "out" (see de-) + couper "to cut" (see chop (v.1)).

larvae of certain moths, 1768, from cut (v.) + worm (n.). At night they emerge from the ground and cut off at the surface tender plants.

"the act of cutting off the foreskin," late 12c., from Latin circumcisionem (nominative circumcisio), noun of action from past participle stem of circumcidere "to cut around; cut, clip, trim, prune off," from circum "around" (see circum-) + caedere "to cut" (from PIE root *kae-id- "to strike.").

c. 1300, dismembren, "to cut off the limbs of," also figuratively "to scatter, disperse, divide into parts or sections so as to destroy the integrity," from Old French desmembrer (11c., Modern French démembrer), from Medieval Latin dismembrare "tear limb from limb; castrate," from Latin de "take away" (see de-) + membrum "limb" (see member). Related: Dismembered; dismembering.

mid-13c., "to cut off the foreskin," from Old French circoncisier "circumcise" (12c., Modern French circoncire) and directly from Latin circumcisus, past participle of circumcidere "to cut round, to cut, trim, prune off," from circum "around" (see circum-) + caedere "to cut" (from PIE root *kae-id- "to strike."). Related: Circumcised; circumcising.

Old English screade "piece cut off, cutting, scrap," from Proto-Germanic *skraudōn- (source also of Old Frisian skred "a cutting, clipping," Middle Dutch schroode "shred," Middle Low German schrot "piece cut off," Old High German scrot, "scrap, shred, a cutting, piece cut off," German Schrot "log, block, small shot", Old Norse skrydda "shriveled skin"), from PIE *skreu- "to cut; cutting tool," extension of root *sker- (1) "to cut."

1737 in cookery, "to bake or brown with sauce in a scallop-shell-shaped pan," by 1737, from scallop (n.); originally of oysters and the notion might have been baking or serving them in a large scallop shell. Related: Scalloped "cooked in a scallop-pan;" also "with the edges marked or cut into convex rounded lobes;" scalloping.