devastate
English edit
Etymology edit
From Latin dēvastātus, perfect passive participle of dēvastō, from dē- (augmentative prefix) + vastō (“I destroy, I lay waste to”).
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
devastate (third-person singular simple present devastates, present participle devastating, simple past and past participle devastated)
- To ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees of a forest.
- 2022 August 24, Bruce Healey, “Wartime tunnel crash: a miraculous escape”, in RAIL, number 964, page 53:
- Halifax in Canada was devastated by a ship exploding in 1917. SS Mont Blanc, a French vessel loaded with 2.9 kilotons of explosives, collided with the Imo.
- To destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions.
- To break beyond recovery or repair so that the only options are abandonment or the clearing away of useless remains (if any) and starting over.
- To greatly demoralize, to cause to suffer intense grief or dismay
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
- devastated (adjective)
Related terms edit
Translations edit
to ruin many or all things over a large area
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Further reading edit
- “devastate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “devastate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “devastate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Ido edit
Verb edit
devastate
- adverbial present passive participle of devastar
Italian edit
Etymology 1 edit
Verb edit
devastate
- inflection of devastare:
Etymology 2 edit
Participle edit
devastate f pl
Anagrams edit
Latin edit
Verb edit
dēvāstāte
Spanish edit
Verb edit
devastate
- second-person singular voseo imperative of devastar combined with te