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decorticate

de·cor·ti·cate

UK/diːˈkɔːtɪkeɪt/ uncommon

verb

1.

remove the outer layer of

  • “decorticate a tree branch”
2.

remove the cortex of (an organ)

Origin

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.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.