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extermino

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word extermino

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (terminus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin termino
French terminer
Latin terminatio
Latin extermino

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈstɛr.mɪ.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈstɛr.mi.no][1]

Forms

exterminō (present infinitive extermināre, perfect active extermināvī, supine exterminātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + terminō (“to set bounds”), to send beyond the boundary.[2][3] Etymonline derives it from the phrase ⟨ex termine⟩ “beyond the boundary”, from termen (“boundary”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first quotations in the OLD and Lewis & Short are in Cicero, who says a man had Gaius Marcellus driven from a city.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is to expel or banish, and to dismiss an idea from the mind: Cicero says he does not think the questions of the natural philosophers should be banished.[2] Lewis & Short find it rare except in Cicero and in Church Latin.[3] In the Old Latin psalms it renders a misread Greek verb, so that Tertullian has hands and feet ⟨exterminātī⟩ where the Vulgate has “pierced”.[5] In Late Latin it came to mean to destroy.[4][1] English exterminate dates from the 1540s, first meaning to drive away.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of driving a man out and of dismissing questions.[2][3][6]
  • 1540s – English exterminate, to drive away.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To drive beyond the borders, expel, banish.[2][3][1][7]
  2. To dismiss (an idea from the mind).[2]
  3. (Late Latin) To abolish, destroy.[4][1]

Word family

  • exterminātiō
  • exterminātor
  • exterminus
  • exterminabilis

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Extermino.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/extermino. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·