annihilate
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annihilate
- /əˈnaɪ.ə.leɪt/ UK
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin annihilātus, perfect passive participle of annihilō (“to reduce to nothing”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ad (“to”) + nihil (“nothing”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See also an-.
verb annihilates · annihilating · annihilated
-
To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.
An atom bomb can annihilate a whole city.
Similar: benothing, destroy, eradicate, extinguish
- To react with antimatter, producing gamma radiation and (for higher-mass reactants, especially composite particles such as protons) lighter particles (such as pions, muons, and neutrinos).
- To treat as worthless, to vilify. of all the opinions which Antiquity hath had of men in gross, those which I most willingly embrace, and whereon I take most hold, are such as most vilifie, condemne, and annihilate us.
- To render null and void; to abrogate. The official Soviet criticism of 'bourgeois philosophy' took for granted that the latter in its various forms was a repetition of the idealist nonsense of Mach and Avenarius, which had been annihilated by Lenin's refutation.
- To cause to become zero by means of an annihilator operator.
Thesaurus
Translations
Every language
verb to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
| Español | aniquilar, anihilar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 撲滅する bokumetsu suru, 殲滅する semmetsu suru, 根絶する konzetsu suru, 根刮ぎにする nekosogi ni suru, 絶滅させる zetsumetsu saseru |
| 中文 | 殲滅 /歼灭 jiānmiè, 毁灭 huǐmiè |
| Português | aniquilar |
| Français | annihiler, anéantir, réduire à néant |
| Deutsch | vernichten |
| Italiano | annichilire, annientare |
| Ελληνικά | εκμηδενίζω ekmidenízo |
| Română | anihila |
| Русский | уничтожа́ть uničtožátʹ, уничто́жить uničtóžitʹ, истребля́ть istrebljátʹ, истреби́ть istrebítʹ |
| العربية | أَفْنَى ʔafnā |
| עברית | הִשְׁמִיד hishmíd, חִסֵּל khisél |
verb (physics) to react with antimatter
| 中文 | 湮灭 yan mie |
|---|---|
| Português | aniquilar |
| Русский | аннигилировать annigilirovatʹ |
Talk about this word "annihilate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/annihilate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. annihilate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/annihilate "annihilate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/annihilate.Cite this
@misc{annihilate_2026,
title = {annihilate},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/annihilate},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
