Extirpate (verb)
To pull up by the roots; to root out and destroy completely; to wipe out.z ExtirpateLVRIWHQXVHGLQD¿JXUDWLYHVHQVHPHDQLQJWRURRWRXW
and destroy, as in: “We need to extirpate the materialistic, self-
centered outlook that too many people have today.” You may also
see extirpate used in reference to the extermination of animal
populations, as in: “Unfortunately, the black bears were extirpated
from that region by 2003.”z ([WLUSDWH RULJLQDOO\ FRPHV IURP WKH /DWLQ SUH¿[ex-, meaning
“out,” and the Latin noun stirps, meaning “a root, stock of a tree.”Abrogate (verb)
- To abolish by formal, authoritative action; to annul, repeal.
- To treat as nonexistent; to do away with, set aside.
z Abrogate is commonly used with its second sense, as in such
phrases as “abrogating responsibility” or “abrogating one’s duty.”z Here, however, is an example of abrogateXVHGLQLWV¿UVWVHQVH ³2Q
$XJXVW ,QGLDDEURJDWHG%ULWLVKUXOHRI¿FLDOO\EHFRPLQJD
country independent of the British Empire.” This example refers to
a formal action that abolishes the status quo, and it’s actually closer
to the meaning of the Latin word abrogo, from which abrogate is
derived. Abrogo means “to annul” or “to repeal.” Thus, when a law
LVDEURJDWHGLWLVRI¿FLDOO\DEROLVKHGRUUHSHDOHGTwo Ending Roots: term and ¿Q
z A number of common words use the root term, meaning “end”:
terminal, terminus, terminate, exterminate, and interminably.
z In addition to term, ¿Q is another Latin root that means “end.” This
root comes from the Latin noun ¿QLV, which means “boundary or
end.” That boundary or end can be spatial or temporal, literal or