To crush something into a fine powder or dust; to reduce something completely to fragments.
From Latin 'pulvis' meaning 'dust' or 'powder.' The word entered English in the 1600s and has maintained its meaning of total destruction through grinding.
The Latin root 'pulvis' gives us 'pulverize,' 'pulp,' and 'powder'—all describing dust and fine particles, and all related to how our bodies literally become dust over time!
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