Pulverate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To grind or crush something into a fine powder-like state
2. To break down a substance until it becomes a powder
3. To transform a material by grinding it into small particulate form

Etymology: "Pulverate" is a plain Latin-derived formation: it comes from the Latin "pulveratus," the past participle of "pulverare," meaning "to pulverize." That Latin verb was built on "pulvis," meaning dust or powder, so the word's core idea is simply reducing something to dust. English took the root and rebuilt the verb through the familiar "pulver-" and "-ate" pieces, which is why the word looks like it was assembled from ordinary parts. The "-ate" ending is the same one found in many verbs of Latin origin, such as "fascinate" or "vaccinate," and it marks an action being carried out on something. Read this way, "pulverate" describes the act of turning material into fine powder, sharing its core with "pulverize," the more common English verb drawn from the same Latin stem.

Synonyms: grind, crush, macerate, powder, mill

Antonyms: assemble, build, construct