annihilate

English

Etymology

From Latin annihilō (“I reduce to nothing”), from ad (“to”) + nihil (“nothing”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈnaɪə.leɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

annihilate (third-person singular simple present annihilates, present participle annihilating, simple past and past participle annihilated)

1. To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.

   An atom bomb can annihilate a whole city.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 237:

     But eagerness in this case, as in most others, annihilated its own delight; down came the tottering height, while the disappointed builder found relief for his sorrow in anger—sorrow's best remedy after all.

2. (particle physics) To react with antimatter, producing gamma radiation and (for higher-mass reactants, especially composite particles such as protons) lighter particles (such as pions, muons, and neutrinos).
3. (archaic) To treat as worthless, to vilify.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     of all the opinions which Antiquity hath had of men in gross, those which I most willingly embrace, and whereon I take most hold, are such as most vilifie, condemne, and annihilate us.

4. (transitive) To render null and void; to abrogate.

Synonyms

• (to reduce to nothing): benothing, destroy, eradicate, extinguish
• See also Thesaurus:destroy

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “to reduce to nothing”): create, generate

Derived terms

• coannihilate
• self-annihilate

 

Related terms

• annihilable
• annihilation
• annihilative
• annihilator
• annul
• nihilism
• nihilist
• null
• nullify

 

Translations

to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate

• Arabic: أَفْنَى (ʔafnā)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: məhv etmək, yox etmək
• Belarusian: знішча́ць impf (zniščácʹ), зні́шчыць pf (zníščycʹ), зніштажа́ць impf (zništažácʹ), знішто́жыць pf (zništóžycʹ)
• Bulgarian: унищожавам (bg) (uništožavam), изтребвам (bg) (iztrebvam)
• Catalan: anihilar (ca), aniquilar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 殲滅／歼灭 (zh) (jiānmiè), 毁灭 (zh) (huǐmiè)

• Cornish: gordhristrui
• Czech: vyhladit
• Danish: annihilere, tilintetgøre (da)
• Dutch: vernietigen (nl)
• Esperanto: neniigi
• Finnish: hävittää (fi)
• French: annihiler (fr), anéantir (fr), réduire à néant (fr)
• German: vernichten (de)
• Greek: εκμηδενίζω (el) (ekmidenízo)
• Hebrew: להשמיד, לחסל
• Hungarian: megsemmisít (hu)
• Icelandic: tortíma (is)
• Ido: nihiligar (io)
• Italian: annichilire (it), annientare (it)
• Japanese: 撲滅する (ja) (bokumetsu suru), 殲滅する (ja) (semmetsu suru), 根絶する (ja) (konzetsu suru), 根刮ぎにする (ja) (nekosogi ni suru), 絶滅させる (ja) (zetsumetsu saseru)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: لەناوبردن (lenawbirdin)

• Latin: annihilō (la), dēleō (la)
• Malayalam: നശിപ്പിക്കുക (naśippikkuka), ഉന്മൂലനം ചെയ്യുക (unmūlanaṁ ceyyuka)
• Maori: urupatu, whakamōtī
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tilintetgjøre (no), annihilere (no)

• Old English: adilgian
• Persian: نابود کردن (nâbud kardan), از بین بردن (az beyn bordan)
• Polish: unicestwiać (pl) impf, unicestwić (pl) pf, anihilować impf
• Portuguese: aniquilar (pt)
• Romanian: anihila (ro)
• Russian: уничтожа́ть (ru) impf (uničtožátʹ), уничто́жить (ru) pf (uničtóžitʹ), истребля́ть (ru) impf (istrebljátʹ), истреби́ть (ru) pf (istrebítʹ)
• Spanish: aniquilar (es), anihilar (es) (rare)
• Swedish: tillintetgöra (sv), förinta (sv), förgöra (sv)
• Thai: กวาดล้าง (th) (gwàat-láang), ทำลาย (th) (tam-laai), ทำลายล้าง (th) (tam-laai-láang), ถอนรากถอนโคน (th) (tɔ̌ɔn-râak-tɔ̌ɔn-koon)
• Turkish: mahvetmek (tr), yok etmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: зни́щувати impf (znýščuvaty), зни́щити pf (znýščyty)
• Welsh: diddymaf, difodaf
• Yiddish: פֿאַרטיליקן (fartilikn)

to react with antimatter

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 湮灭 (zh) (yan mie)

• Finnish: annihiloitua
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: annihilere (no)

• Polish: anihilować impf
• Portuguese: aniquilar (pt)
• Russian: аннигилировать (ru) (annigilirovatʹ)
• Thai: ประลัย (th) (bprà-lai)

Further reading

• “annihilate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “annihilate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Latin

Verb

annihilāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of annihilō