Obliteration

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Complete destruction or erasure of something until no trace remains
2. the act of destroying something so thoroughly that it ceases to exist or leaves no evidence behind
3. the process of wiping away or eliminating something completely until nothing recognizable survives

Etymology: Obliteration is a straightforward formation: it is built from "obliterate" with the suffix "-ion", which marks an action or the result of one. The verb "obliterate" came into English from Latin "oblitterare", meaning to cancel or blot out writing, built from "ob-" (against, over) and "littera" (letter). The original image is literal: to erase letters from a wax tablet or page, so that the writing can no longer be read. The noun carries that same sense of erasure. Its suffix passed into English through Old French "-acion" and Latin "-ātiō", so the word arrived with a long chain of endings, each adding the sense of an act or process. The result is a noun for the complete removal of something until no trace of it is left, which is why the word is still used for wiping out places, records and memories.

Synonyms: destruction, annihilation, eradication, extermination, deletion

Antonyms: creation, construction, restoration, establishment, building