Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

liquidate

/ˈlɪkwəˌdeɪt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.80 in modern English

Syllables
li-quid-ate
IPA
/ˈlɪkwəˌdeɪt/
19
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

Synonym of liquefy (“to make (something) into a liquid”); to liquidize.

Archaic; Transitive verb

verb

To make (a sound) less harsh.

Transitive verb

verb

To use up (money or other assets) wastefully; to dissipate, to squander, to waste.

Transitive verb

verb

To kill (someone), usually violently, and especially for some ideological or political aim; to assassinate, to murder; also, to abolish or eliminate (something); to do away with, to put an end to.

Informal; Transitive verb

verb

To convert (assets) into cash; to encash, to realize, to redeem.

Transitive verb

verb

To settle (a debt) by paying the outstanding amount; to pay off.

Transitive verb

verb

To settle the financial affairs of (a corporation, partnership, or other business) with the aim of ceasing operations, by determining liabilities, using assets to pay debts, and apportioning the remaining assets if any; to wind up.

Transitive verb

verb

To make (something) clear and intelligible.

Obsolete; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin liquidātus (“liquid; clear”, adjective) + English -ate (suffix forming verbs, and forming adjectives with the sense ‘characterized by [the specified things]’). Liquidātus is the perfect passive participle of liquidō (“to turn into a liquid, melt; to make clear”), from Latin liquidus (“fluid, liquid; clear, transparent”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs); while liquidus is from liqueō (“to be fluid or liquid; to be clear or transparent”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wleykʷ- (“to make wet; moist”)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, liquid (adjective) + -ate. Verb sense 1.2.3 (“to kill; to abolish or eliminate”) is a semantic loan from Russian ликвиди́ровать (likvidírovatʹ); while verb sense 1.2.4 and verb sense 2 (business-related senses) were influenced by French liquider and Italian liquidare, all ultimately from Latin liquidus (see above).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈlɪkwəˌdeɪt/
  • British English: /ˈlɪkwɪdeɪt/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Antonyms

Questions

How do you pronounce liquidate?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈlɪkwəˌdeɪt/.
What does liquidate mean?
Synonym of liquefy (“to make (something) into a liquid”); to liquidize.
Where does liquidate come from?
It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce liquidate

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “liquidate”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈlɪkwəˌdeɪt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “liquidate”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “liquidate” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.