Oblite

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To wipe out or remove something completely so that it can no longer be seen or recognized
2. Destroying or erasing all trace of something, leaving no mark or evidence of it behind
3. Blotting out a thing from view or memory until nothing of it remains visible

Etymology: "Oblite" is an obsolete English verb meaning to erase or blot out, the same sense now carried by "obliterate." It appears to have come into English directly from Latin "oblitus," the past participle of "oblinere," which meant "to smear over" or "to daub." The image behind the word is literal: something is covered over with a layer of paint, mud, or wax until the original surface can no longer be seen. The Latin verb is also the source of "oblitterate," the older form of "obliterate," which came through a different route and took on the same sense of wiping out. English speakers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries used both forms, and "oblite" eventually dropped out of use while "obliterate" survived. The verb "oblinere" is related to "linere," "to smear," which also gives English "liniment," a substance rubbed onto the skin.

Synonyms: obliterate, efface, erase, expunge, delete

Antonyms: create, preserve