Where does “annihilate” come from?
Annihilate comes from Latin annihilo, composed of the prefix ad- and Latin nihilo meaning nothing, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to or at.
annihilate (English): To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate;...
Definitions
- To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate;...
Ancestry of “annihilate”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | annihilatus | destroyed; annihilated |
| 2 | Latin | annihilō | to bring to nothing, annihilate, obliterate, destroy utterly, benothing |
| 3 | Latin | nihil | indefinite nothing |
| 4 | Latin | nihilum | nothing; no value |
| 5 | Latin | nē | no; not |
| 6 | Latin | gēns | Roman clan (related by birth or marriage and sharing a common name and often united by certain religious rites) |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | *gentis | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵénh₁tis | birth, production |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵenh₁- | to produce, to beget, to give birth |