English
erasure
Erasure comes from Latin ērādō ‘to scrape away, pare’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *razdō.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*razdōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEradō‘to scrape, shave, scratch’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEērādō‘to scrape away, pare’
- Englishearliest quotation 1817erasure
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*razdōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEradō‘to scrape, shave, scratch’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEērādō‘to scrape away, pare’
- Englishearliest quotation 1817erasure
Earliest quotation: 1817, Rob Roy. […]: “An inroad on the strongbox, or an erasure in…”
Formed from erase + -ure
Proto-Italic *razdō
Latin radō ‘to scrape, shave, scratch’
Latin ērādō ‘to scrape away, pare’
Latin ērāsus ‘scratched out, scraped off, erased’
English erase
The story
Pseudo-Latinism, derived from ērādō (‘to erase’) + -tūra (‘abstract noun suffix’), equivalent to erase + -ure.
Linked words
through Latin radō ‘to scrape, shave, scratch’
abrasion, raze, raster, 12 more
through Latin ērādō ‘to scrape away, pare’
Today it means
noun The action of erasing; deletion; obliteration.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *razdō / erasure