ختن

Where it comes from

Inherited noun from Proto-Semitic *ḫatan- (“son-in-law”). Thereof the base stem was formed in the sense of a causative “to have a bridegroom”; the active part خَاتِن (ḵātin) being the father-in-law and a circumciser: though we cannot answer at this place the ancient history of circumcision in detail, nor will anyone on the internet without great animosity, apparently from the occasion of taking a wife a man’s prepuce was considered less necessary, hence the making eligible was equated with circumcising. The other meanings given by the lexicographic tradition of “outwitting, circumventing” and “cutting around or truncating” probably don’t point to an original word in meanings of going around or cutting around but are rather vulgarities punning upon the practice of circumcision; see also our explanation of عَرُوب (ʕarūb).