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e·lim·i·nate (ĭ-lĭmə-nāt′)
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tr.v. e·lim·i·nat·ed, e·lim·i·nat·ing, e·lim·i·nates
1. To get rid of; remove: an effort to eliminate homelessness; eliminated his enemies.
2.
a. To leave out or omit from consideration; reject: For now, let's eliminate from the discussion the possibility of failure.
b. To remove from consideration by defeating, as in a contest.
3. Mathematics To remove (an unknown quantity) by combining equations.
4. Physiology To excrete (bodily wastes).
[Latin ēlīmināre, ēlīmināt-, to banish : ē-, ex-, ex- + līmen, līmin-, threshold.]
e·lim′i·nation n.
e·limi·na′tive, e·limi·na·to′ry (-nə-tôr′ē) adj.
e·limi·na′tor n.
Synonyms: eliminate, eradicate, extirpate
These verbs mean to nullify someone as a factor or cause an activity or condition to come to an end, especially by using drastic methods: eliminated all opposition; eradicate guerrilla activity; policies that attempt to extirpate drug abuse.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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