eradicate
verb
Did you know?
The Root of Eradicate Is, Literally, Root
Given that eradicate first meant "to pull up by the roots," it's not surprising that the root of eradicate means, in fact, "root." Eradicate, which first turned up in English in the 16th century, comes from eradicatus, the past participle of the Latin verb eradicare. Eradicare, in turn, can be traced back to the Latin word radix, meaning "root" or "radish." Although eradicate began life as a word for literal uprooting, by the mid-17th century it had developed a metaphorical application to removing things the way one might yank an undesirable weed up by the roots. Other descendants of radix in English include radical and radish. Even the word root itself is related; it comes from the same ancient word that gave Latin radix.
Synonyms
Examples of eradicate in a Sentence
Mark Jones, The Arizona Republic, 9 Dec. 2024
In the 1950s, an ambitious international campaign was launched to eradicate the insect in the north and center of the continent.
—Geraldine Castro, WIRED, 4 Dec. 2024
Surveillance to find the next pandemic Most years, the deadliest infectious disease in the world is tuberculosis, a brutal bacterium that’s also frustratingly expensive to eradicate (which is why none of GiveWell’s top charities target it).
—Dylan Matthews, Vox, 3 Dec. 2024
Disruptions to health care services and changes in migration travel disruptions were cited as likely contributors to the increase, but the trend highlights the difficulty in eradicating the illness that has blighted societies for centuries.
—Tom Howarth, Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Eradicate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eradicate. Accessed 29 Dec. 2024.
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