ablate

Meanings

1. To remove or decrease something by cutting, erosion, melting, evaporation, or vaporization.
2. To undergo ablation; to become melted or evaporated and removed at a high temperature.

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.