Etymologically
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demolition

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌdɛm.əˈlɪʃ.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Middle French demolition (“defeat; destruction of a structure”), now démolition, and partly borrowed from Latin dēmōlītiō (“action of demolishing”),[2][3][4] a noun of action from dēmōlītus, the past participle of dēmōlior (“to tear down”).[5][6][7] The Latin verb is formed from dē- (“down”) and mōlior (“to build, construct”), from mōlēs (“massive structure”).[5] The French word is recorded in both senses from the 14th century,[2][5] and in Anglo-Norman demolition from 1384.[8] In post-classical Latin the noun was used figuratively from Tertullian on.[2] It is related to demolish.[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The subverting, defeating or refuting of something or someone: about 1550, in the Complaynt of Scotland.[2] Etymonline dates the figurative sense "destruction, overthrow" to the 1540s,[5] and Merriam-Webster gives 1549.[3]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense came first, with the literal pulling down of a building recorded from before 1572, in John Knox,[2] or from the 1610s according to Etymonline.[5][4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "the act of overthrowing or demolishing buildings", quoting Swift on the demolition of Dunkirk.[9] In the plural, demolitions were the ruins left by demolishing, from 1608, a sense now rare or obsolete.[2][3] Humorously, from 1722, it was the greedy eating of a meal,[2] and in British sports writing since 1976 a heavy defeat.[2] In military use it means destruction by explosives.[10][3] H. L. Mencken noted demolition engineer for a house-wrecker by 1936, and the American demolition derby, in which old cars ram each other until one is left running, is recorded from 1956.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1550 – defeat, overthrow, refutation.[2][3]
  • before 1572 – the pulling down of a building.[2]
  • 1608 – plural, ruins.[2]
  • 1722 – humorous, the eating up of food.[2]
  • 1936 – demolition engineer.[5]
  • 1956 – demolition derby.[5]
  • 1976 – in sport, a heavy defeat.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of demolishing a building or other structure, or the state of being demolished: the demolition of the old mill.[10][3][2]
  2. (chiefly military) Destruction of structures or targets by explosives, often used before another noun: a demolition charge.[10][3]
  3. The thorough defeat or refutation of an argument or opponent; in British sport, a heavy defeat.[2]
  4. (obsolete) In the plural, ruins or remains.[3][2]

Word family

  • demolitionist
  • demolition derby
  • demolish

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins