amputate
/ˈæmpjʊteɪt/verb
amputate is spelled A-M-P-U-T-A-T-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,714th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, amputate means “To surgically remove a part of the body, especially a limb” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in amputate?
| Letters | 8: A-M-P-U-T-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 58,714th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is amputate?
Amputate appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,714th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce amputate?
- /ˈæmpjʊteɪt/
Amputate has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-amputate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of amputate
- amputates present, singular, he/she/it
- amputating participle, present
- amputated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does amputate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo cut off, to prune.
- 2
To surgically remove a part of the body, especially a limb.
The surgeon had to amputate the patient’s leg to save his life.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Amputate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to surgically remove a body part:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | amputer |
| German | amputieren |
| Portuguese | amputar |
| Spanish | amputar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does amputate come from?
From Latin amputō (“prune, cut away”). The original sense of pruning (a tree, etc.) became obsolete. The OED considers uses related to anything other than an animal limb to be figurative uses of the modern sense.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).