annihilate
English
Etymology
From Latin annihilō (“I reduce to nothing”), from ad (“to”) + nihil (“nothing”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /əˈnaɪə.leɪt/
Audio (US) (file)
Verb
annihilate (third-person singular simple present annihilates, present participle annihilating, simple past and past participle annihilated)
- To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.
- An atom bomb can annihilate a whole city.
- (particle physics) To react with antimatter, producing gamma radiation.
- (archaic) To treat as worthless, to vilify.
- 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes, […], printed at London: […] Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:, II.17:
- 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.
-
- (transitive) To render null and void; to abrogate.
Synonyms
- (to reduce to nothing): benothing, destroy, eradicate, extinguish
- See also Thesaurus:destroy
Antonyms
Related terms
Translations
to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
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Further reading
- annihilate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- annihilate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Latin
Verb
annihilāte
- first-person plural present active imperative of annihilō
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