Eradicating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of completely removing undesirable elements from a place or system signifies a thorough process of eliminating harmful influences or organisms
2. The process of totally removing a harmful or unwanted entity from an environment or system
3. Actively wiping out undesirable elements to ensure they no longer exist in a particular context

Etymology: "Eradicating" is the present participle of "eradicate", and the verb's origin is a gardening image: Latin "ērādīcāre" meant to pull a plant up by its root, from "ē-" ("out") and "rādīx" ("root"). The same Latin root "rādīx" gave us "radish", so a word for uprooting and a word for a root vegetable share a common ancestor. The verb reached English through Middle English "eradicaten", borrowed from the Latin past participle "ērādīcātus". The sense of removing something completely, without leaving any part behind, follows naturally from that uprooting image: a weed pulled with its root leaves no regrowth, and "eradicating" a disease or pest carries the same idea of getting rid of it entirely.

Synonyms: eliminating, removing, destroying, exterminating, abolishing

Antonyms: establishing, creating, introducing, installing, perpetuating