Surgical removal of all or part of the foreskin (prepuce) of the penis, usually performed on the newborn; it is practiced among Jews and Muslims. In some societies in Africa and the Middle East, female circumcision or clitoridectomy (removal of the labia minora and/or clitoris) is practiced on adolescents as well as babies; it is illegal in the West.
/> Female circumcision has no medical benefit and often causes disease and complications in childbirth; in 1982 an estimated 84 million women had been circumcised. Male circumcision too is usually carried out for cultural reasons and not as a medical necessity, apart from cases where the opening of the prepuce is so small as to obstruct the flow of urine. Some evidence indicates that it protects against the development of cancer of the penis later in life and that women with circumcised partners are at less risk from cancer of the cervix.
1. A Jewish and Muslim religious rite performed on a male 8 days after birth.
2. Surgical removal of the foreskin of males.
ETYM Latin circumcisio.