demolish

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.

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

The facts don't support naming a specific English cognate beyond noting that demolish replaced the native Old English word tōweorpan, which literally meant "to throw apart."