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Added 9 October 2026

eradicate

/ɪˈɹæd.ɪ.keɪt/ verb

Latin root: ērādīcātus Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about eradicate at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To pull up by the roots.
To destroy completely; to reduce to nothing radically; to put an end to.
Smallpox was globally eradicated in 1980.

participle

eradicated

Origin

PIE word *wréh₂ds From Middle English eradicaten (“to eradicate”), from eradicat(e) (“eradicated”, past participle of eradicaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin ērādīcātus, the perfect passive participle of ērādīcō (“to uproot, root out; to anihilate, eradicate”), from ē- (“out”) + rādīx (“root”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See also radish.

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

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