delete English · revision 6452

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1495|origins=la deleo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɪˈliːt/, /diˈliːt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|dēlētus]], the past participle of [[m|la|dēleo|alt=dēlēre|t=to destroy, blot out, efface]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) a back-formation from dēlēvī, originally the perfect of [[m|la|dēlino|alt=dēlinere|t=to daub, erase by smudging]], from [[m|la|dē-|t=away]] and [[m|la|lino|alt=linere|t=to smear]] (see [[liniment]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To destroy or eradicate: 1495 in the OED, 1534 (possibly 1495) in Barnhart, the 1530s in Etymonline; this sense is obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To strike out or erase written or printed matter is from about 1605.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Figuratively, to wipe out, is from 1650.^(OED 1989) In 1937 it meant to withdraw a record from a catalogue,^(OED 1989) and in cytology a chromosome segment is deleted when lost (1929).^(OED 1989) Removing data from a computer is the usual modern sense.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD) [[deletion|alt=Deletion]] is from 1590.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1495 – to destroy (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590 – deletion.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1605 – to strike out writing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1929 – in genetics.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To remove or erase written or printed material, or data in a [[computer]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[deletable]]

+ * [[redelete]]

+ * [[deletion]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[liniment]]

+ * [[indelible]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}