Catholic Dictionary
Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
Your Term:
CIRCUMCISION
The cutting off of the foreskin as a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. Every male, God ordered, was to be circumcised when he was eight days old (Genesis 17:12). This did not continue as an obligation in the new covenant. Gentiles were not required to submit to circumcision (Acts 15:28). (Etym. Latin circumcisio, a cutting around.)
