Added 9 October 2026
obliterate
/əˈblɪtəɹeɪt/ verb
In Latin: oblitterō, annihilō Wiktionary
verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about obliterate at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
Mark for deletion, rub off, or erase.
kill these lines in the President's speech
-
Make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing.
a hidden message
-
Remove completely from recognition or memory.
efface the memory of the time in the camps
adjective
- Reduced to nothingness.
Origin
PIE word *h₁epi (start of 17th century) From earlier obliterat, learned borrowing from Latin obliterātus, oblitterātus (“having been blotted out, effaced, erased; having been forgotten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix, of participial origin)). Obliterātus and oblitterātus are respectively the perfect passive participles of obliterō and oblitterō (“to blot out, efface, erase, obliterate; to cause to be forgotten”), probably either: * from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + littera (“letter of the alphabet; (metonymically) handwriting”) (further etymology unknown); or * from oblītus (“disregarded, neglected; forgotten”), influenced by littera.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)