Meanings
present singular third person circumsects · participle present circumsecting · participle past circumsected · past circumsected
- transitivemedicineTo cut around the circumference (of some part of an organ or structure).
The eye is circumsected near the margin of the iris, exposing the lens in the cup formed by the anterior half of the eye.
1931, James Clyde Munch, Bioassays: a handbook of quantitative pharmacology2 more examples
If the stimulated cortical zone is circumsected so that most of the pathways available for intracortical elaboration of the excitation are severed, conditioned reflexes still occur to the cortical conditional stimulus.
1967, Landauer, Thomas K, Readings in physiological psychology; the bodily basis of behaviorFinally, a special knife which can be rotated after insertion into the brain to circumsect a specific region completely has been devised and used with great advantage to disjoin the hypothalamus from the brain stem.
1978, Finger, Stanley, Recovery from brain damage : research and theory
Origin
- Latincircumsectus
- Englishcircumsect
Borrowed from Latin circumsectus perfect passive participle of circumsecō (“to cut around”), from circum- (“around”) + secare (“to cut”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
circumsect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circumsect
“circumsect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circumsect. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “circumsect,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circumsect.
Source: circumsect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.