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Added 9 October 2026

delete

/dɪˈliːt/ verb

In Latin: dēleō, ērādō, ablēgō Wiktionary

verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about delete at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Remove or make invisible.
Please delete my name from your list
Wipe out digitally or magnetically recorded information.
Who erased the files from my hard disk?
Cut or eliminate.
she edited the juiciest scenes

Origin

From Latin dēlētus, past participle of dēlēre (“destroy, blot out, efface”), from dēlēvī, originally perf. tense of dēlinere (“to daub, erase by smudging”), from dē- (“from, away”) + linere (“to smear, wipe”). Original sense first appears c. 1495. In common use for ordering the absence of features of products (such as automobiles) in the 1960s. The computing sense, including the noun form, first appears c. 1977 in Software: Practice & Experience. Not related to deleterious. Doublet of delible and deleble.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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