Link Centre Dictionary

extirpate

ex·tir·pate

UK/ˈɛkstəpeɪt/ US/ˈɛkstɚpeɪt/ uncommon obsolete

verb

1.

destroy completely, as if down to the roots

  • “the vestiges of political democracy were soon uprooted”
  • “root out corruption”
Synonyms
2.

pull up by or as if by the roots

  • “uproot the vine that has spread all over the garden”
Synonyms
3.

Origin

The verb is first attested in 1538, the adjective in 1541; borrowed from Latin exstirpātus perfect passive participle of exstirpō (“to uproot”), from ex- (“out of”) + stirps (“the lower part of the trunk of a tree, including the roots; the stem, stalk”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)). Doublet of extirp. Common participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

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Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.