Annihilationist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who believes in the complete destruction of the soul or consciousness after death rather than eternal punishment
2. a proponent of the theological doctrine that souls cease to exist entirely upon death rather than enduring eternal torment
3. one who advocates the belief that human consciousness is permanently obliterated at death instead of persisting in afterlife punishment

Etymology: Annihilationism is the belief that the wicked do not suffer eternal punishment in hell but are simply destroyed, their existence ending at death. The word "annihilationist" is built from "annihilation," which comes from Latin "annihilare," meaning "to reduce to nothing," itself formed from "ad" plus "nihil," "nothing." The English noun "annihilation" entered the language in the late 1300s, and the "-ist" ending was attached to it later, marking a person who holds a particular doctrine. The suffix does most of the work here. "-ist" passed into English through Middle English, but its ultimate path runs through Old French and Latin, from Ancient Greek forms ending in "-istēs," a suffix used for people who practise or believe something. Its long journey explains why so many English words for doctrines and practitioners, such as "socialist" or "pianist," share this same tail.