decorticate
/diːˈkɔːtɪkeɪt/ verb, adjective
Forms decorticates decorticating decorticated
- verb (transitive, ergative) To peel or remove the bark, husk, or outer layer from something.
- verb (transitive) To surgically remove the surface layer, membrane, or fibrous cover of an organ etc.
- adjective Having had the cortex removed “visually decorticate”
Synonyms
excorticate delibrate decorticated
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.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To divest of the bark, husk, or exterior coating; to husk; to peel; to hull. "Great barley dried and decorticated." Arbuthnot.
Etymology [L. decorticatus, p. p. of decorticare to bark; de- + cortex bark.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “decorticate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details