annihilate
English edit
Etymology edit
From Latin annihilō (“I reduce to nothing”), from ad (“to”) + nihil (“nothing”).
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
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.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 237:
- But eagerness in this case, as in most others, annihilated its own delight; down came the tottering height, while the disappointed builder found relief for his sorrow in anger—sorrow's best remedy after all.
- (particle physics) 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).
- (archaic) To treat as worthless, to vilify.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
- 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 edit
- (to reduce to nothing): benothing, destroy, eradicate, extinguish
- See also Thesaurus:destroy
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
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to react with antimatter
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Further reading edit
- “annihilate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “annihilate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Latin edit
Verb edit
annihilāte