Completely destroyed or eliminated until nothing remains, or to defeat someone totally and completely.
From Latin 'annihilare' (to reduce to nothing), combining 'ad-' (to) and 'nihil' (nothing), literally meaning 'to make into nothing.'
The word contains 'nihil' (nothing) right in it—when something is annihilated, you're literally reducing it to 'nihil,' which is why nihilism (the belief in nothing) shares the same Latin root!
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