decorticate

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /diːˈkɔːtɪkeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

decorticate (third-person singular simple present decorticates, present participle decorticating, simple past and past participle decorticated)

1. (transitive, ergative) To peel or remove the bark, husk, or outer layer from something.

   Synonyms: excorticate, delibrate

   • 1962, Lindsay Dixon Pryor, Trees in Canberra, page 89:

     […] but its striking white trunk, which changes to a bright pink in late spring or summer just before it decorticates, makes it a handsome species.

2. (transitive) To surgically remove the surface layer, membrane, or fibrous cover of an organ etc.

Derived terms

• decorticated
• decortication
• decorticator
• hemidecorticate

Related terms

• cortex
• excorticate

Translations

peel or remove the bark, husk or outer layer from something

Albanian: zhvoshk (sq) Bulgarian: обелвам (bg) (obelvam) Catalan: escorxar (ca) French: décortiquer (fr) Icelandic: afhýða Irish: snamh, rúisc Norwegian: Bokmål: avbarke, slindbarke (no) (with an axe) Spanish: descortezar (es)

surgically remove the surface layer

Catalan: decorticar (ca) French: décortiquer (fr)

Adjective

decorticate (not comparable)

1. Having had the cortex removed

   Synonym: decorticated

   visually decorticate

   having had the visual cortex removed

Italian

Etymology 1

Adjective

decorticate f pl

1. feminine plural of decorticato

Participle

decorticate f pl

1. feminine plural of decorticato

Etymology 2

Verb

decorticate

1. inflection of decorticare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Latin

Verb

dēcorticāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēcorticō

Spanish

Verb

decorticate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of decorticar combined with te