ablate
/əˈbleɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.45 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To remove or decrease something by cutting, erosion, melting, evaporation, or vaporization.
Transitive verb
verb
To undergo ablation; to become melted or evaporated and removed at a high temperature.
Intransitive verb
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Italic *ap Latin abder. Latin ab- Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *tl̥h₂tós Latin latus Latin ablātusder. Middle English ablatder. Late Latin ablātiōder. Middle English albacioun English ablationbf. English ablate From Middle English ablat (“taken away”), from Latin ablātus, past participle of auferō (“to remove”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). First attested in the 1500s, it became obsolete by the early 1600s. Returned into use as a back-formation from ablation.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ablat, ablātus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈbleɪt/