To remove the bark, husk, or outer layer from something; in medicine, to remove the cortex or outer layer of an organ.
From Latin decorticare, from de- (off, away) + cortex (bark, rind, brain cortex). The word entered English in the 17th century with both botanical and medical applications.
The word 'cortex' appears in both botanical contexts (bark) and neurological contexts (brain), which is because ancient Latin speakers called both the outer covering of a tree and the outer layer of the brain by the same word 'cortex'—revealing how our anatomy was understood through metaphors with nature.
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