To destroy completely or make something impossible to see or remember, as if wiping it out entirely.
From Latin 'obliterare' (to erase), combining 'ob-' (against) + 'littera' (letter), literally 'to cross out letters'; entered English in the 1500s with its sense of complete destruction.
The Latin root 'littera' (letter) shows that 'obliterate' originally meant 'to erase writing,' but over time the meaning expanded to mean erasing anything—a beautiful example of how metaphors become literal over centuries.
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