Averruncating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Warding off or uprooting something harmful, an archaic way of clearing away evil or misfortune
2. Removing or turning aside a danger or evil by pulling it out from its roots
3. Eradicating a threat or mischief, a rare and old-fashioned act of cutting off harm entirely

Etymology: The word's most surprising feature is a misreading that became the spelling. In Latin, "āverruncāre" meant "to avert," built from "āb" ("off") and "verruncāre" ("to turn"). Somewhere along the way, it was understood instead as "āb" plus "ēruncāre," meaning "to weed out," and the spelling was changed to match that picture of pulling something away by the roots. The image of uprooting a threat stuck, even though the original sense was simply turning it aside. The English verb "averruncate" carries that Latin sense into English, meaning to ward off or avert harm, particularly by magical or supernatural means. The form "averruncating" is the ongoing action of that verb, so the word describes someone in the middle of turning harm away.

Synonyms: averting, warding off, deflecting, preventing

Antonyms: inviting, attracting, courting