Etymologically
Log in

eradico

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 11:15. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eː.raːˈdiː.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [e.raˈdiː.ko][1]

Forms

ērādīcō (present infinitive ērādīcāre, perfect active ērādīcāvī, supine ērādīcātum); first conjugation[1] Also spelled exrādīcō.[2][3] Plautus has the old passive infinitive ērādīcārier.[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- (“out”) + rādīx (“root”), with the verb ending ⟨-ō⟩.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it several times, mostly in curses, of destroying someone root and branch;[3][4][5] in one comic passage a boaster wears out people's ears with his tales of battle.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it a word of early Latin.[3] Terence too has it in a curse, dī tē ērādīcent, “may the gods root you out”.[4][3] In its literal sense it is to pull up by the roots: Varro uses it of things grown from the earth.[3][4] The Vulgate has the literal sense in the parables, where every plant not planted by the Father shall be rooted up,[3] and the figurative one in the prophets.[3]

Medieval writers used it of pulling up weeds and plants,[6] of clearing woodland,[6] of drawing a tooth,[6] and figuratively of abolishing a custom or wiping out idolatry.[6] English took eradicate in the early 15th century from its participle.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in curses.[3][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it in a curse.[4][3][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of pulling plants out of the ground.[3][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of uprooting plants.[3][5]
  • early 15th century – English borrows eradicate.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To tear up by the roots, uproot.[2][3]
  2. To destroy utterly, exterminate.[2][3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) To clear woodland.[6]

Word family

  • ērādīcātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com