Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "annihilate" come from? It comes from Late Latin annihilare, and was adopted directly into English (1520s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "annihilate" come from? It comes from Late Latin annihilare, and was adopted directly into English (1520s).
Annihilate’s story begins in Late Latin: annihilare meant “to reduce to nothing.” 'ad-' plus 'nihil', nothing. It reached English by 1520s as annihilate. 'nihilism' shares the root. Today, annihilate means to destroy utterly.
- Stage 1 · Late Latin · ancient annihilare "to reduce to nothing", 'ad-' plus 'nihil', nothing.
- Stage 2 · English · 1520s annihilate "to destroy", 'nihilism' shares the root.