obliterate

Etymology

PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Latin obliterātus, oblitterātus (“having been blotted out, effaced, erased; having been forgotten”) + English -ate (suffix meaning ‘to act in [the specified manner]’ forming verbs, and ‘characterized by [the specified thing]’ forming adjectives). Obliterātus and oblitterātus are respectively the perfect passive participles of obliterō and oblitterō (“to blot out, efface, erase, obliterate; to cause to be forgotten”), probably either: * from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + littera (“letter of the alphabet; (metonymically) handwriting”) (further etymology unknown); or * from oblītus (“disregarded, neglected; forgotten”), influenced by littera. Oblītus is the perfect passive participle of oblinō (“to daub over, besmear”), from ob- + possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light; brief; swift”). cognates * Catalan obliterar (“to erase; to cancel (a stamp); to close up or fill (a body cavity, vessel, etc.)”) * Middle French oblitérer (modern French oblitérer (“to cause (memories) to fade; to block, obstruct; to cancel (a stamp, ticket, etc.) so it cannot be reused”)) * Portuguese obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”) * Spanish obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”)

verb

1. (transitive)
   1. To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out.
      The seal of Pepi is in the House of Rurutȧ. The god who obliterateth sin, Ȧṭer-ȧsfet, obliterateth the transgressions which belong to Pepi in the presence of Khenti-merti in Sekhem. 1911, E[rnest] A[lfred Thompson] Wallis Budge, “Appendix: Translations from the Pyramid Texts of Pepi I, Mer-en-Rā, and Pepi II”, in Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection[…], London: Philip Lee Warner; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 363
      Soham's station had been completely obliterated (the replacement was to close in 1965 and is only now being reopened). 12 January 2022, Benedict le Vay, “The Heroes of Soham …”, in Rail, number 948, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 43
   2. To hide (something) by covering it; to conceal, to obscure.
      The rainclouds obliterated the sun as they swept across the sky.
      When the ſhadows of the evening are ſtretched out, […] when the veil, that is caſt over the face of nature, obliterateth the variety of colours which owe their being to the light, and aboliſheth all the diſtinction of objects thence ariſing, introducing a joyleſs and uncomfortable uniformity, and rendering it impoſſible for any to "go forth to their labour;" […] then it is that deep ſleep falleth upon man. a. 1793 (date written), George Horne, “Discourse II. The Sinner Called.”, in Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions, 4th edition, volume II, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] J. Cooke; and G. G. J. and J. Robinson, T[homas] Cadell, and F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington,[…], published 1793, →OCLC, page 33
   3. (also figurative) To make (a drawing, text which is printed or written, etc.) indecipherable, either by erasing or obscuring it; to blot out, to efface, to delete.
      [A]s one foule blot or daſh vvith a pen defaceth a vvhole vvriting, ſo one foule and enormous crime daſheth and obliterateth the faireſt copy of a vertuous life. 1636, Daniel Featley, “The Danger of Relapse. The LVI Sermon.”, in Clavis Mystica: A Key Opening Divers Difficult and Mysterious Texts of Holy Scripture;[…], London: […] R[obert] Y[oung] for Nicolas Bourne,[…], →OCLC, page 773
      Blessed art thou, O Lord, universal King! who pardonest and forgivest our sins, and the sins of thy people Israel, and obliteratest our guilt year after year; […] 1836, Hyam Isaacs, “Remarks on the Traditions and Ceremonies of the Jews”, in Ceremonies, Customs, Rites, and Traditions of the Jews,[…], 2nd edition, London: […] T. and C. Buck,[…] [for] S. Holdworth,[…], →OCLC, page 58
   4. (biology, pathology, surgery, chiefly passive) To impair the function and/or structure of (a body cavity, vessel, etc.) by ablating or occluding it (in the latter case, chiefly by filling it with tissue).
      In the developing embryo the foregut is surrounded by a group of vascular structures of bilateral distribution connected with the branchial arches. Portions of these arches are obliterated to form the normally described aorta and great vessels. The ultimate persistence of only one main vascular arch, the left, as the aorta, permits the trachea and oesophagus to lie freely to its right side. 1959 September, F. Ronald Edwards, “Vascular Compression of the Trachea and Oesophagus”, in N[orman] R[upert] Barrett, J[ohn] G[uyett] Scadding, editors, Thorax, volume XIV, number 3, London: British Medical Association, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, page 187, column 1
      The pleural sac was obliterated by firm fibrous adhesions over the right upper lobe. 1959 December, R. H. Elphinstone, R. G. Spector, “Sarcoma of the Pulmonary Artery”, in N[orman] R[upert] Barrett, J[ohn] G[uyett] Scadding, editors, Thorax, volume XIV, number 4, London: British Medical Association, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, page 335, column 1
      Compression of an aneurysm of the left carotid artery should obliterate only the pulses of the distribution of this artery, not those of the femoral arteries. If the mass is an aneurysm of the right common carotid artery, manual compression should obliterate the distribution of this vessel and, because of its location, may also obliterate the vessels of the right arm. However, femoral pulsations should be preserved. 1974 July, Ira W. DuBrow, Sheldon O. Burman, Decio O. Elias, Alois R. Hastreiter, Raymond J. Pietras, “Aortic Arch in the Neck”, in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, volume 68, number 1, [St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby?], →DOI, →ISSN, →PMID, page 27, column 1
   5. (philately) To cancel (a postage stamp) with a postmark so it cannot be reused.
2. (intransitive)
   1. To be destroyed completely, leaving no trace.
   2. (biology, pathology) Of a body cavity, vessel, etc.: to close up or fill with tissue; of perfusion or a pulse: to cease owing to obstruction.
      distal pulses obliterate until perfusion is restored

adj

1. (except poetic) Completely destroyed or erased; effaced, obliterated.
2. (entomology, rare) Of markings on an insect: difficult to distinguish from the background; faint, indistinct.