Etymologically
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deletion

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 02:13. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪˈliːʃən/[1]
  • US: /dɪˈliʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēlētiō (“destruction, annihilation”),[2][3][4][5] from the past participle of dēleō (“to wipe out, destroy, blot out”), and the noun suffix -iō.[2][6][7] In post-classical Latin of the 16th century the noun also meant elision.[2] It is the noun of delete.[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Destruction, annihilation: before 1513, in John Irland's Meroure of Wyssdome, a Scots text.[2] The Shorter Oxford dates the word to the late 15th century.[7]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, destruction, is now rare or archaic.[2][7] From 1590 the word meant the striking out of something written or printed,[2][3] and Etymonline dates "a word or passage deleted" to the 1580s and "the act of blotting out" to about 1600.[6] Johnson (1755) gave both "act of rasing or blotting out" and "a destruction".[5] The 20th century added technical senses: in genetics the loss of a segment of a chromosome (1928), in linguistics the omission of an element from a word or sentence (1934), in the record trade the withdrawal of a recording from a catalogue (1937), and in computing the removal of text or data (1956) and of a file (1962).[2]

Timeline

  • before 1513 – destruction, annihilation (now rare).[2]
  • 1590 – the striking out of written or printed matter.[2][3] Etymonline dates the sense "a word or passage deleted" to the 1580s.[6]
  • 1928 – genetics, the loss of a segment of a chromosome.[2]
  • 1934 – linguistics, the omission of an element from a word or sentence.[2]
  • 1937 – the withdrawal of a recording from a record company's catalogue.[2]
  • 1956 – computing, the removal of text or data from a document.[2]
  • 1962 – the removal of a file from a computer's memory.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of deleting, erasing or removing something, especially written matter or data; the fact of being deleted.[8][3][2]
  2. A deleted word, passage or other item: The editor's deletions shortened the article by a third.[8][3]
  3. (genetics) The loss of a segment of a chromosome or of a stretch of DNA.[8][3][2]
  4. (linguistics) The omission of one or more elements from a word or sentence; elision.[2]
  5. A recording withdrawn from a record company's catalogue.[2]
  6. (archaic) Destruction or annihilation.[7][2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins