Etymograph

English

annihilate

Annihilate comes from Latin annihilātus ‘destroyed’, from annihilō ‘to reduce to nothing’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo- ‘sinew’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰiH-(s-)lo-1‘sinew’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fī(s)lom1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīlum2‘thread’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhīlum3‘the least bit’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnihil4‘nothing’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEannihilō5‘to reduce to nothing’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEannihilātus5‘destroyed’perfect passive participle of annihilō
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1603annihilate5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin filum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin hilum
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin nihil
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Latin annihilo
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English annihilate
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “of all the opinions which Antiquity hath had of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷʰiH-(s-)lo-Wiktionary, Latin filum‘sinew’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fī(s)lomWiktionary, Latin filumuncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīlumWiktionary, Latin hilum‘thread’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhīlumWiktionary, Latin nihil‘the least bit’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnihilWiktionary, Latin annihilo‘nothing’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEannihilōWiktionary, English annihilate‘to reduce to nothing’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEannihilātusWiktionary, English annihilate‘destroyed’perfect passive participle of annihilō
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1603annihilateWiktionary, English annihilate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “of all the opinions which Antiquity hath had of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *fī(s)lom

defile, filamentous, 42 more

through Latin fīlum ‘thread’

file, fillet, filament, 45 more

through Latin nihil ‘nothing’

nihilism, nihilist, nihil, 6 more

Today it means

verb To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “annihilate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin filum, Latin hilum, Latin nihil, Latin annihilo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo- / annihilate

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