# delete

> English word · Verb · IPA /dɪˈliːt/ · frequency rank #4,935

## Definitions
1. To remove, get rid of or erase, especially written or printed material, or data on a computer or other device.
2. To defeat or dominate.
3. To kill or murder.

## Etymology
From Latin dēlētus, past participle of dēlēre (“destroy, blot out, efface”), from dēlēvī, originally perf. tense of dēlinere (“to daub, erase by smudging”), from dē- (“from, away”) + linere (“to smear, wipe”). Original sense first appears c. 1495. In common use for ordering the absence of features of products (such as automobiles) in the 1960s. The computing sense, including the noun form, first appears c. 1977 in Software: Practice & Experience. Not related to deleterious.
Doublet of delible and deleble.

## Easily confused with
- **delta** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-delta)
- **delve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-delve)
- **Delle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-delle)
- **delft** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-delft)
- **deluxe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-deluxe)
- **devote** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-devote)
- **denote** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-denote)
- **dilute** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-dilute)
- **deluge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-deluge)
- **deleted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-deleted)
- **deplete** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-deplete)
- **depleted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delete-vs-depleted)
- **debate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debate-vs-delete)
- **deflate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/deflate-vs-delete)
- **delegate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/delegate-vs-delete)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ddelete`, `deelte`, `deleet`, `delette`, `dellete`, `deltee`, `dleete`, `edlete`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/delete