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demolish

dih-MOL-ish · verb

LatinMiddle FrenchEnglish

Origin

Demolish entered English in the 16th century from Middle French demoliss-, a stem of demolir ("to destroy", "to tear down"), which came from Latin dēmōlior, meaning the same.

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Journey

The word arrived fully formed with its meaning of tearing down or destroying, and English simply adopted the French verb stem as its own.

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From Middle French

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