exterminate
verb
Did you know?
Originally, to exterminate something was to banish it or drive it away. And it is this meaning that can be found in the Latin origin of "exterminate." "Exterminate" comes from "exterminatus," the past participle of exterminare, meaning "to drive beyond the boundaries." The Latin word exterminare was formed from the prefix ex- ("out of" or "outside") and "terminus" ("boundary"). Not much more than a century after its introduction to English, "exterminate" came to denote destroying or utterly putting an end to something. And that's the use with which the word is usually employed today.
Examples of exterminate in a Sentence
Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
This early generation of Soviet spies was mostly exterminated during Stalin’s purges of the 1930s.
—Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
In the human body, for example, phages typically don’t exterminate their host bacteria.
—Carl Zimmer, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2025
Leering over his shoulder at every stage is his manipulative wife, Ylfa (Toni Collette), who encourages his worst instincts — like the assumption that Creepers are a threat and must therefore be exterminated — while indulging her obsession with sauces.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 15 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Exterminate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exterminate. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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exterminate
verb
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