liquidate

Where “liquidate” sits in English frequency

Definition

1. 1
   Synonym of liquefy (“to make (something) into a liquid”); to liquidize.
2. 2
   To make (a sound) less harsh.
3. 3
   To use up (money or other assets) wastefully; to dissipate, to squander, to waste.
4. 4
   To kill (someone), usually violently, and especially for some ideological or political aim; to assassinate, to murder; also, to abolish or eliminate (something); to do away with, to put an end to.
5. 5
   To convert (assets) into cash; to encash, to realize, to redeem.
6. 6
   To settle (a debt) by paying the outstanding amount; to pay off.
7. 7
   To settle the financial affairs of (a corporation, partnership, or other business) with the aim of ceasing operations, by determining liabilities, using assets to pay debts, and apportioning the remaining assets if any; to wind up.
8. 8
   To make (something) clear and intelligible.
9. 9
   To make (something) clear and intelligible.
10. 10
    To make (something) clear and intelligible.
11. 11
    Of a corporation, partnership, or other business: to settle financial affairs with the aim of ceasing operations; to go into liquidation, to wind up.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin liquidātus (“liquid; clear”, adjective) + English -ate (suffix forming verbs, and forming adjectives with the sense ‘characterized by [the specified things]’). Liquidātus is the perfect passive participle of liquidō (“to turn into a liquid, melt; to make clear”), from Latin liquidus (“fluid, liquid; clear, transparent”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs); while liquidus is from liqueō (“to be fluid or liquid; to be clear or transparent”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wleykʷ- (“to make wet; moist”)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, liquid (adjective) + -ate. Verb sense 1.2.3 (“to kill; to abolish or eliminate”) is a semantic loan from Russian ликвиди́ровать (likvidírovatʹ); while verb sense 1.2.4 and verb sense 2 (business-related senses) were influenced by French liquider and Italian liquidare, all ultimately from Latin liquidus (see above).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ilquidate,liqiudate,liqquidate,liqudiate,liquiadte,liquidaet,liquidatte,liquiddate,liquidtae,liuqidate,lliquidate,lqiuidate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of liquidate - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Frequently Asked Questions