obliterate
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obliterate¹
- /əˈblɪtəɹeɪt/ UK
- /əˈblɪtəˌɹeɪt/ US
- /oʊ-/ US
- [-ɾə-] US
Where it comes from
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. Oblītus is the perfect passive participle of oblinō (“to daub over, besmear”), from ob- + possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light; brief; swift”).
Cognates
* Catalan obliterar (“to erase; to cancel (a stamp); to close up or fill (a body cavity, vessel, etc.)”)
* Middle French oblitérer (modern French oblitérer (“to cause (memories) to fade; to block, obstruct; to cancel (a stamp, ticket, etc.) so it cannot be reused”))
* Portuguese obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”)
* Spanish obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”)
verb obliterates · obliterating · obliterated · obliterate
-
To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out.
[H]e [Pope Gregory I] deſigned to obliterate and extinguiſh the memorie of Heathen antiquitie and Authors.
Similar: bedash, do away with, eradicate, extirpate, raze, uproot, destroy, annihilate, aerosolize, atomize, benothing, bewreck
- To hide (something) by covering it; to conceal, to obscure. The rainclouds obliterated the sun as they swept across the sky.
- To make (a drawing, text which is printed or written, etc.) indecipherable, either by erasing or obscuring it; to blot out, to efface, to delete. The Senate approuing all that vvas done, decreed that his name ſhould bee obliterated out of all monuments in Rome, and neuer any Antoninus (a name before very gratious) ſhould rule againe their Empire: ſo odious vvas the remembrance of this Image of Ignominy.
- To impair the function and/or structure of (a body cavity, vessel, etc.) by ablating or occluding it (in the latter case, chiefly by filling it with tissue). In the developing embryo the foregut is surrounded by a group of vascular structures of bilateral distribution connected with the branchial arches. Portions of these arches are obliterated to form the normally described aorta and great vessels. The ultimate persistence of only one main vascular arch
- To cancel (a postage stamp) with a postmark so it cannot be reused.
- To be destroyed completely, leaving no trace.
- Of a body cavity, vessel, etc.: to close up or fill with tissue; of perfusion or a pulse: to cease owing to obstruction. distal pulses obliterate until perfusion is restored
obliterate²
- /əˈblɪtəɹət/ UK
- /əˈblɪtəɹət/ US
- /oʊ-/ US
- [-ɾə-] US
Where it comes from
Learned borrowing from Latin obliterātus (see more at Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix, of participial origin)).
adjective more obliterate · most obliterate
- Completely destroyed or erased; effaced, obliterated. [G]o to the herald's office, […] and thou shalt find in that office as many records of attainted families, and escheated families, and impoverished and forgotten, and obliterate families, as of families newly erected and presently celebrated.
- Of markings on an insect: difficult to distinguish from the background; faint, indistinct.
Translations
Every language
verb to destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace
| Español | obliterar, aniquilar, arrasar, borrar, destruir, remover |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 말살하다 malsalhada, 멸 myeol, 멸망하다 myeolmanghada |
| 日本語 | 撃破する gekiha suru, 滅 metsu |
| 中文 | 滅 /灭 miè, 衊 /蔑 miè, 泯 mǐn, 夷 yí |
| Português | obliterar, aniquilar |
| Français | annihiler, effacer, écraser, volatiliser, anéantir, pulvériser |
| Deutsch | auslöschen, verwischen |
| Italiano | obliterare, annullare, spazzare |
| Ελληνικά | εξαφανίζω exafanízo |
| Русский | уничтожа́ть uničtožátʹ, уничто́жить uničtóžitʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | mạt sát |
| العربية | عَفَا ʕafā |
| עברית | מָחָה makha, הִכְחִיד hikh-khid |
Talk about this word "obliterate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/obliterate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. obliterate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/obliterate "obliterate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/obliterate.Cite this
@misc{obliterate_2026,
title = {obliterate},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/obliterate},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
