Etymologically
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eliminate

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪˈlɪm.ɪ.neɪt/ (UK); /ɪˈlɪm.ɪ.neɪt/, /ɪˈlɪm.ə.neɪt/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin eliminatus, the past participle of ēlīmināre (“to thrust out of doors, expel”),[2][3][4] from the phrase ex līmine, off the threshold, from ex (“out”) and limen (“threshold”) (see liminal).[3][5][6] Barnhart allows the influence of Middle French éliminer.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To thrust out of doors, expel: 1568.[2][7][4]

Semantic evolution

To divulge secrets is an obsolete sense of 1608.[7] To exclude, remove or get rid of, in general, is attested by 1714.[3][7] In chemistry, to expel a constituent from a compound is from 1794–96,[7] and to expel waste from the body by about 1795.[3] To set aside as irrelevant is from 1850,[7] and in mathematics, to remove a quantity from equations follows.[8][9] To kill is a later euphemistic sense.[6][10]

Timeline

  • 1568 – to thrust out of doors.[2][7]
  • 1714 – to get rid of.[3][7]
  • 1794 – in chemistry.[7]
  • c. 1795 – to excrete.[3]
  • 1850 – to disregard.[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To remove or get rid of completely.
  2. To exclude from further participation in a competition.
  3. (euphemistic) To kill.
  4. (physiology) To expel waste from the body.

Word family

  • elimination
  • eliminator
  • eliminative

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge