# obliterate

> English word · Verb · IPA /əˈblɪtəɹeɪt/ · frequency rank #37,601

## Definitions
1. To destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out.
2. To hide (something) by covering it; to conceal, to obscure.
3. To make (a drawing, text which is printed or written, etc.) indecipherable, either by erasing or obscuring it; to blot out, to efface, to delete.
4. To impair the function and/or structure of (a body cavity, vessel, etc.) by ablating or occluding it (in the latter case, chiefly by filling it with tissue).
5. To cancel (a postage stamp) with a postmark so it cannot be reused.
6. To be destroyed completely, leaving no trace.
7. Of a body cavity, vessel, etc.: to close up or fill with tissue; of perfusion or a pulse: to cease owing to obstruction.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *h₁epi
(start of 17th century) From earlier obliterat, learned borrowing from Latin obliterātus, oblitterātus (“having been blotted out, effaced, erased; having been forgotten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix, of participial origin)). Obliterātus and oblitterātus are respectively the perfect passive participles of obliterō and oblitterō (“to blot out, efface, erase, obliterate; to cause to be forgotten”), probably either:
* from ob- (prefix meaning ‘against; towards’) + littera (“letter of the alphabet; (metonymically) handwriting”) (further etymology unknown); or
* from oblītus (“disregarded, neglected; forgotten”), influenced by littera. Oblītus is the perfect passive participle of oblinō (“to daub over, besmear”), from ob- + possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“not heavy, light; brief; swift”).
Cognates
* Catalan obliterar (“to erase; to cancel (a stamp); to close up or fill (a body cavity, vessel, etc.)”)
* Middle French oblitérer (modern French oblitérer (“to cause (memories) to fade; to block, obstruct; to cancel (a stamp, ticket, etc.) so it cannot be reused”))
* Portuguese obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”)
* Spanish obliterar (“to destroy completely; to erase”)

## Easily confused with
- **obliterated** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/obliterate-vs-obliterated)

## Common misspellings (14)
`boliterate`, `obbliterate`, `obilterate`, `oblietrate`, `oblitearte`, `obliteraet`, `obliteratte`, `obliterrate`, `oblitertae`, `oblitreate`, `oblitterate`, `oblliterate`, `obltierate`, `olbiterate`

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