liquidate
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liquidate
- /ˈlɪkwɪdeɪt/ UK
- /ˈlɪkwəˌdeɪt/ US
Where it comes from
Learned borrowing from Late Latin liquidātus (“liquid, clear”), perfect passive participle of liquidō (“to turn into a liquid, melt; to make clear”), from Latin liquidus (“fluid, liquid; clear, transparent”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs); the former from liqueō (“to be fluid or liquid; to be clear or transparent”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wleykʷ- (“to make wet”)) + -idus (adjective-forming suffix). By surface analysis, liquid (adjective) + -ate.
Verb sense 1.2.3 (“to kill; to abolish”) is a semantic loan from Russian ликвиди́ровать (likvidírovatʹ); while verb sense 1.2.4 and verb sense 2 (business-related senses) were influenced by French liquider and Italian liquidare, all ultimately from Latin liquidus.
verb liquidates · liquidating · liquidated
-
Synonym of liquefy (“to make (something) into a liquid”); to liquidize.
The Para rubber is of very fine quality, […] whilst the Ceara, a very inferior quality, often passes through a species of decomposition before arriving in this country, the heat of the ship's hold being sufficient to partially liquidate its substance.
Similar: liquefy
- To make (a sound) less harsh.
- To use up (money or other assets) wastefully; to dissipate, to squander, to waste. A Drunkard is a Creature God ne're made, / The Species Man, the Nature retrograde, / […] / Thoſe damn themſelves to heap an ill-got Store, / Theſe liquidate their VVealth, and covet to be poor.
-
To kill (someone), usually violently, and especially for some ideological or political aim; to assassinate, to murder; also, to abolish or eliminate (something); to do away with, to put an end to.
State farms in Southern Russia, in the Caucasus and in Siberia, have proved a failure, and a change in policy has been in progress. […] Now the State farms are being liquidated. Several hundred have been broken up and 4,000,000 acres of land distributed among the collective farms. A Riga corresponde
Similar: annihilate, bag, baptize, bereave of life, blight, bring down, bump off, bury, cack, compromised to a permanent end, croak, crush · Opposite: bring forth, cause, contrive, create, ferment, forge, develop, engender, evolve, generate, gin up, innate
- To convert (assets) into cash; to encash, to realize, to redeem. How far progress has been made in liquidating the locomotive stock of the old companies may be judged from the shrinkage in their numbers, by some 50 per cent. at the end of 1931, to about 35 per cent. in 1938.
- To settle (a debt) by paying the outstanding amount; to pay off. The excess of the former amount over the latter constitutes of course a debt due by this Company to the banking company, the settlement of which has engaged the earnest attention of the Board. Their wish was to liquidate that amount by the proceeds of sales of property; but the unfavourable state of
- To settle the financial affairs of (a corporation, partnership, or other business) with the aim of ceasing operations, by determining liabilities, using assets to pay debts, and apportioning the remaining assets if any; to wind up.
- To make (something) clear and intelligible. [T]he King vvas obliged to qualify his grant, by eſtabliſhing betvveen the contending parties a rotation of ſeniority, each to take place alternately for a year, the ſurvivor to precede for his life the heir of the other, and ſo in perpetuum. A ſenſeleſs jumble, ſoon liquidated by a more egregious a
- To resolve or settle (differences, disputes, etc.). [R]eturn to thy maſter, and tell him, e'er vve liquidate our differences by the ſvvord, Manfred vvould hold ſome converſe vvith him.
- To ascertain (an amount of money), especially by agreement or through litigation; also, to set out (financial accounts) properly. All theſe Diſadvantages, vvith many others, vve vvere forced to lay before Sir Richard Steele, and farther to remonſtrate to him, that as he novv ſtood in [William] Collier’s Place, his Penſion of 700l. vvas liable to the ſame Conditions, that Collier had receiv’d it upon; vvhich vvere, that it ſhou
- Of a corporation, partnership, or other business: to settle financial affairs with the aim of ceasing operations; to go into liquidation, to wind up. COVID-19 hit the company hard—I foresee it will liquidate within a year.
adjective
- Of an amount of money: ascertained, determined, fixed. I A. B. [here name and design the Granter] grant me to have instantly borrowed and received C. D. [here name and design the Creditor] the Sum of [insert the Sum] Sterling; which Sum I bind myself and my Heirs, Executors, and Representatives whomsoever, without the Necessity of discussing them in the
Translations
Every language
verb to kill (someone), usually violently — see also assassinate, kill, murder
| Español | liquidar |
|---|---|
| Português | liquidar |
| Français | liquider |
| Deutsch | liquidieren |
| Русский | ликвиди́ровать likvidírovatʹ |
verb to convert (assets) into cash — see also encash, realize, redeem
| Français | liquider |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | liquidieren |
| Ελληνικά | εκκαθαρίζω ekkatharízo |
| Русский | переводи́ть в нали́чные perevodítʹ v nalíčnyje, перевести́ в нали́чные perevestí v nalíčnyje |
verb to settle (a debt) by paying the outstanding amount — see also pay off
| 日本語 | 清算する seisan suru |
|---|---|
| Français | liquider |
| Deutsch | liquidieren |
| Ελληνικά | εκκαθαρίζω ekkatharízo |
| Русский | ликвиди́ровать likvidírovatʹ, выпла́чивать vypláčivatʹ, вы́платить výplatitʹ |
verb (transitive) to settle the financial affairs of (a corporation, partnership, or other business) with the aim of ceasing operations; (intransitive) of a corporat
| 日本語 | 決着を付ける kecchaku wo tsukeru, 清算する seisan suru |
|---|---|
| Français | liquider |
| Deutsch | liquidieren |
| Ελληνικά | εκκαθαρίζω ekkatharízo |
| Русский | ула́живать uláživatʹ, ула́дить uláditʹ, урегули́ровать uregulírovatʹ |
Talk about this word "liquidate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/liquidate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. liquidate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/liquidate "liquidate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/liquidate.Cite this
@misc{liquidate_2026,
title = {liquidate},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/liquidate},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
