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Today it means

corrode

to destroy slowly by chemical action

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Where does the word "corrode" come from? It comes from Latin corrodere, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "corrode" come from? It comes from Latin corrodere, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Corrode’s story begins in Latin: corrodere meant “to gnaw away.” 'com-' plus 'rodere', to gnaw. It reached English by 1300s as corrode. 'corrosive' followed. Today, corrode means to destroy slowly by chemical action.

  1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient corrodere "to gnaw away", 'com-' plus 'rodere', to gnaw.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s corrode "to gnaw away", 'corrosive' followed.

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