English → Latin
“cut off” in Latin
secōto cut, cut off; to cleave, divide; to operate, amputate, perform surgerydēsecōto sever, cut off; to cut, reap or mow (a crop)resecōto cut off or loose; to curtail, stop; to check, restrainabscīdōto cut off (with an instrument), cut short; to amputate; to deprive (of), cut off, detractpraecīdōto cut off in front or through; shorten; sever, separate; to beat to pieces, batter, smash; to cut off or across, avoid,unguisfingernail, toenail; talon, claw; hoofdēcidōto fall down or off; collapse; drop, hang down; to die, fall dead; to sink, perish
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
cut off
(α) (α) To separate anything by cutting off a part from its whole; secare: desecare: resecare (general terms): subsecare (to cut off a small part, e.g., of one’s nails, ungues): abscidere (not abscindere, to hew off): praecidere (to cut off in front): to cut off anybody’s head, amputare alicui caput: anybody’s tongue, exsecare alicui linguam: ears, nose, lips, etc., praecidere, or decidere, or abscidere alicui aures, nasum, labiaque: anybody’s hair, pilos recidere; praecidere capillos: to cut off one’s beard, barbam ponere (Vid: Bremi, Suet., Cal., 10): to cut off grapes, detrahere uvas arboribus; uvas legere: (β) to disturb or interrupt anything in its course by cutting or digging: to cut off their supply of water, flumen avertere (by turning a river; Caes., often in a hostile sense); also praecidere fistulas, quibus urbi aqua suppeditatur (to cut the water-pipes): to cut off all access to a place, intercludere viam (by ditches).
IMPROPR., (α) To impede anything or anybody in any course: to cut off from anything, intercludere aliquem re or a re (e.g., the enemy from a town, their magazines, the main body, etc.: to cut off the enemy’s proposed line of march): excludere aliquem re or a re (e.g., the enemy from the harbour, the sea-coast, etc.). (β) Of things or circumstances that impede or break off anything, praecidere alicui aliquid (to cutoff anybody’s return, hope, etc.): excludere or intercludere aliquem aliqua re (e.g., the retreat): the enemy from their supply of water, prohibere hostem aqua or aquatione (i. e., prevent them from fetching water): to cut off supplies, commeatu aliquem intercludere or prohibere; re frumentaria aliquem intercludere; frumento commeatuque aliquem prohibere; urbem omni commeatu privare (if a town): to cut off all approach or access to anybody, alicui omnes aditus ad aliquem intercludere: all opportunities, praecidere alicui omnes causas (Ter., Hec., 4, 2, 22): to cut off short, praecidere: (γ) To destroy, funditus tollere or evertere; delere; exstinguere; exterminare; exstirpare; excidere [SYN. in To DESTROY]. (The words are found in this connection and order.) exstirpare et funditus tollere: (δ) To shorten, curtare: decurtare: contrahere (e.g., orationem). (ε) To take away, demere; auferre; tollere; eripere; detrahere; surripere; amovere; removere; adimere [SYN. in To TAKE AWAY]. (ζ) To interrupt (a speaker, etc.), interpellare (to interrupt an orator or speaker): intercipere (to interrupt a conversation abruptly, sermonem medium): dirimere (to cause to cease entirely, e.g., sermonem): interrumpere (to cause anything to cease in its course or the midst of its progress): (η) To intercept, deprehendere (to take or seize in its course e.g., alicujus tabellarios, a messenger; litteras, letters; naves, vessels): intercipere (messengers, letters, etc., if secretly or by lying in ambush): intercludere (to obstruct; e.g., alicui fugam; aditum alicui ad aliquem). (θ) To deprive of an inheritance, exheredare: hereditate excludere: exheredem facere or scribere: to cut one’s son off with a shilling, filium exheredare (i. e., in one’s will); “filium abdicare,” however, is used in the case of the son being disowned by his father during the lifetime of the latter, and thus losing his inheritance. To CUT OPEN, incidere (i. e., to open anybody by cutting): insecare (to make an incision in anything, in order to open it; e.g., of an anatomist opening a body, corpus mortuum).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for cut off?
- The usual Latin words for “cut off” are secō, dēsecō, resecō; also abscīdō, praecīdō, unguis. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.