obliterate

== English == === Pronunciation === Verb: (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈblɪtəɹeɪt/ (General American) IPA(key): /əˈblɪtəˌɹeɪt/, /oʊ-/, [-ɾə-] Adjective: (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈblɪtəɹət/ (General American) IPA(key): /əˈblɪtəɹət/, /oʊ-/, [-ɾə-] Hyphenation: ob‧lit‧er‧ate === Etymology 1 === (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”). ==== Verb ==== obliterate (third-person singular simple present obliterates, present participle obliterating, simple past and past participle obliterated) (transitive) To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out. Synonyms: bedash, do away with, eradicate, extirpate, raze, uproot; see also Thesaurus:destroy To hide (something) by covering it; to conceal, to obscure. (also figuratively) 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. Hyponyms: deface, paint out, (of text) mark out, (of text) strike through; see also Thesaurus:delete (biology, pathology, surgery, chiefly passive voice) 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). (philately) To cancel (a postage stamp) with a postmark so it cannot be reused. (intransitive) To be destroyed completely, leaving no trace. (biology, pathology) Of a body cavity, vessel, etc.: to close up or fill with tissue; of perfusion or a pulse: to cease owing to obstruction. ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== obliteration ===== Translations ===== ==== See also ==== obliviate, oblivion === Etymology 2 === Learned borrowing from Latin obliterātus (see more at Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix, of participial origin)). ==== Adjective ==== obliterate (comparative more obliterate, superlative most obliterate) (obsolete) (except poetic) Completely destroyed or erased; effaced, obliterated. (entomology, rare) Of markings on an insect: difficult to distinguish from the background; faint, indistinct. ===== Derived terms ===== obliterateness (rare) === References === == Italian == === Etymology 1 === ==== Verb ==== obliterate inflection of obliterare: second-person plural present indicative second-person plural imperative === Etymology 2 === ==== Participle ==== obliterate f pl feminine plural of obliterato == Latin == === Verb === obliterāte second-person plural present active imperative of obliterō == Spanish == === Verb === obliterate second-person singular voseo imperative of obliterar combined with te