Etymologically
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demolish

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Pronunciation

  • /dɪˈmɒl.ɪʃ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French demoliss-,[2][3][4][5] the extended stem (compare -ish) of demolir (“to pull or knock down”), now démolir,[2][6][7][8] recorded in French from 1383, and in 1367 as desmolir.[2] The French verb is from Latin dēmōlior (“to pull down, demolish”),[2][3][4][9] formed from dē- (“down; reversal”) and mōlior (“to build, construct”),[2][3][4][10][6] from mōlēs (“mass, massive structure”),[3][4][9][11] the source of mole "breakwater".[3][10] Ayto therefore calls demolishing etymologically "deconstructing".[10] The OED compares demoler, demolire and demolieren, and notes that the noun demolition is recorded slightly earlier.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To pull or knock down a building or other structure: 1560, in the records of the burgh of Edinburgh.[2] Merriam-Webster dates the first use to 1570,[12] Barnhart to 1570–76,[3] Etymonline to the 1560s[4] and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 16th century.[8]

Semantic evolution

Figurative use came almost at once: from 1570, in Foxe's Actes and Monumentes, the verb meant to do away with or put an end to something.[2] Etymonline dates the figurative sense "destroy, lay waste" to the 1610s.[4] From 1691 it was used of refuting an argument or theory decisively, a use the OED notes was not found in French until 1826.[2] Since 1646 it has also meant damaging something without destroying it entirely.[2] A humorous sense, to eat up food quickly, is recorded from 1639, in Massinger;[2] Etymonline dates it by 1756.[4] In the 20th century sports writers used it for defeating an opponent heavily (1938).[2] An intransitive use, to be destroyed or be in the course of demolition, lasted from 1610 to 1828.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as to throw down buildings, raze or destroy.[13]

Timeline

  • 1560 – to pull or knock down a building; to destroy.[2][4]
  • 1570 – figurative, to do away with, put an end to.[2][12]
  • 1610 – intransitive, to be destroyed or be in the course of demolition (obsolete by 1828).[2]
  • 1639 – humorous, to eat up quickly.[2]
  • 1646 – to damage without destroying completely.[2]
  • 1691 – to refute an argument or theory decisively.[2]
  • 1938 – in sport, to defeat easily.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pull or tear down a building or other structure; to raze: The old cinema was demolished to make room for flats.[14][12][2]
  2. To break apart or destroy completely; to put an end to.[14][12][2]
  3. To refute an argument, theory or opponent decisively.[14][2]
  4. (informal) To defeat a player or team easily.[2]
  5. (humorous) To eat up food quickly: The children demolished a whole pizza.[14][2]

Word family

References

  1. ^ 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 t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  12. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins