To cut off the head of someone or something, especially as a form of execution or in warfare.
From de- (remove) + capit- (from Latin caput 'head') + -ate (verb). Romans used this term clinically for a military reality.
Decapitate entered English when people actually did execute prisoners by cutting their heads off, so the word has this dark historical weight. It's now used metaphorically for removing leadership from organizations ('the scandal decapitated the company's management'), which shows how we recycle violent language to describe non-violent situations.
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