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annihilate

Pronunciation: /əˈnaɪ.ə.leɪt/

The English word “annihilate” has 5 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.
  2. 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. To treat as worthless, to vilify.
  4. To render null and void; to abrogate.
  5. To cause to become zero by means of an annihilator operator.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin annihilātus, perfect passive participle of annihilō (“to reduce to nothing”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ad (“to”) + nihil (“nothing”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See also an-.

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