Averruncated

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Warded off or uprooted, as an evil or misfortune is removed by a charm or by cutting away at the root
2. Having been turned aside or rooted out, in the archaic sense of averting harm or pulling up something unwanted
3. Removed or averted in the manner of a misfortune being driven off or a weed being pulled up from its roots

Etymology: The word "averruncate" is a rare English verb meaning to avert or ward off, and the past form "averruncated" simply applies that verb to something already done. Its history is a tidy case of a word getting its spelling from a mistaken reading. The Latin "āverruncāre" meant "to avert," and was built from "āb" ("off") and "verruncāre" ("to turn"). Somewhere along the way, it was reinterpreted as "āb" plus "ēruncāre" ("to weed out"), a verb from "ēruncāre" that suggests pulling something out by the root, and the spelling was changed to match that reading. The result is that the English word preserves a meaning, "to turn away," that has nothing to do with weeding, yet its letters look like a gardening image. Anyone who sees the spelling might picture rooting something out, while the original sense is about turning aside a threat or evil.

Synonyms: averted, removed