English
annihilate
Annihilate comes from Latin annihilātus ‘destroyed’, from annihilō ‘to reduce to nothing’, and ultimately from hīlum ‘the least bit’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhīlum‘the least bit’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnihil‘nothing’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEannihilō‘to reduce to nothing’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEannihilātus‘destroyed’perfect passive participle of annihilō
- Englishearliest quotation 1603annihilate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhīlum‘the least bit’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnihil‘nothing’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEannihilō‘to reduce to nothing’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEannihilātus‘destroyed’perfect passive participle of annihilō
- Englishearliest quotation 1603annihilate
Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “of all the opinions which Antiquity hath had of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *fī(s)lom
through Latin fīlum ‘thread’
file, fillet, filament, 45 more
through Latin nihil ‘nothing’
Today it means
verb To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin hīlum / annihilate