mutilate

Meaning

Verb

1. To physically harm as to impair use, notably by cutting off or otherwise disabling a vital part, such as a limb.
2. To destroy beyond recognition.
3. (figuratively) To render imperfect or defective.

Adj

1. (not-comparable, obsolete) Deprived of, or having lost, an important part; mutilated.
2. (archaic, not-comparable) Having fin-like appendages or flukes instead of legs, like a cetacean does.

Noun

Something that has been mutilated.

Synonyms

maim

cripple

mangle

spoil

injure

disfigure

mar

damage

truncate

murder

fell

harm

cut off

ruin

hurt

automutilate

chop

cut down

cut up

destroy

impair

torment

torture

vitiate

wound

snap off

amputate

hew

deface

ill-treat

make an incision

cut into

kneecap

lop

cut

curtail

manhandle

brutalise

maul

mess up

mistreat

break

belabour

saw

🪚

scourge

section

slash

belabor

squash

strong-arm

Translations

mutilar

verstümmeln

mutilare

mutiler

mutilar

verminken

ακρωτηριάζω

mutilar

troncare

amputare

beschadigen

abschneiden

fällen

verderben

بتر

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmjuː.tɪˌleɪt/

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin mutilātus, the perfect passive participle of mutilō (“to mutilate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), itself from mutilus (“maimed”).