decorticate
/diːˈkɔːtɪkeɪt/verb, adjective
decorticate is spelled D-E-C-O-R-T-I-C-A-T-E: 11 letters. It appears about once in every 58 million words in written English, the 237,177th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, decorticate means “To peel or remove the bark, husk, or outer layer from something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in decorticate?
| Letters | 11: D-E-C-O-R-T-I-C-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 58 million words; the 237,177th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is decorticate?
Decorticate appears about once in every 58 million words in written English, the 237,177th 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 decorticate?
- UK /diːˈkɔːtɪkeɪt/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-decorticate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of decorticate
- decorticates present, singular, he/she/it
- decorticating participle, present
- decorticated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does decorticate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To peel or remove the bark, husk, or outer layer from something.
- 2
To surgically remove the surface layer, membrane, or fibrous cover of an organ etc.
adjective
- 1
Having had the cortex removed
visually decorticate
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Decorticate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense peel or remove the bark, husk or outer layer from something:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | décortiquer |
| Spanish | descortezar |
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 decorticate come from?
The verb is first attested in 1611, the adjective in 1872; borrowed from Latin dēcorticātus, perfect passive participle of dēcorticō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from dē- (“of, from”) + cortex (“bark”, oblique stem in cortic-) + -ō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).