Annihilator

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mechanism or individual that brings about total destruction or eradication of an object or concept
2. An entity that comprehensively eliminates or obliterates substances or ideas, leaving nothing behind
3. One that causes absolute destruction or eradicates completely

Etymology: "Annihilator" is a plain case of an English word built from an existing one: "annihilate" with the agent suffix "-or", which means one who or that which performs the action. The verb "annihilate" comes from Latin "annihilare", "to reduce to nothing", built from "ad" and "nihil" ("nothing"), and the "-or" ending traces back through Latin "-tor" and "-ator", passing through Old French and Middle English before arriving in English. So the word literally describes a thing that reduces something to nothing. It is most often used for an agent or force of total destruction, and it has a sense of unstoppable completeness that the Latin "nihil" at its core makes clear.

Synonyms: destroyer, obliterator