Corrodes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Gradually wears down or destroys a material through chemical reaction, often oxidation, causing it to deteriorate over time
2. Slowly eats away at the surface of a substance by chemical processes, leading to damage and weakening
3. Causes the breakdown or decay of a material surface due to a chemical attack, typically resulting in loss of strength

Etymology: "Corrodes" is the third-person singular present form of "corrode," so the history belongs to the verb itself. The core image is literal gnawing: Latin "corrōdere" combined "con-," meaning "completely," with "rōdere," "to gnaw," the same root that gives English "rodent." Something that corrodes is, in effect, being chewed away bit by bit. The verb reached English in Middle English as "corrōden," which came either through Old French "corroder" or directly from the Latin. Its earliest sense stayed close to that picture of physical nibbling, and the chemical meaning of wearing a surface away by reaction came later as the word extended from teeth and rats to metals, acids and rust.

Synonyms: erodes, deteriorates, degrades

Antonyms: preserves, protects