Aridifies

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make dry or devoid of moisture, often referring to land or climate conditions
2. Causing an environment to become unproductive or unable to support plant life due to lack of water
3. Transforming an area into a state of dryness that severely reduces its fertility and viability for agriculture

Etymology: Arid comes from Latin "aridus", meaning dry or parched, and the "-ify" ending comes from Latin "-ficare" via Old French, a suffix meaning "to make" or "to cause to become." Put together, "aridify" means to make something dry, and this verb is simply the third-person singular form of that base verb. The construction is a plain one: a Latin-derived adjective joined to a productive verb-forming suffix, the same pattern that gives English words like "simplify" and "beautify." Its specific sense, drying out land until it can no longer support crops, follows directly from that literal meaning, with "arid" describing ground that has lost its moisture.

Synonyms: desiccates, dry

Antonyms: moistens, hydrates