Meanings
present singular third person debellates · participle present debellating · participle past debellated · past debellated
- obsoletetransitiveTo conquer (someone) in war; to subdue.
It doth notably set forth the consent of all nations and ages, in the approbation of the extirpating and debellating of giants, monsters, and foreign tyrants, not only as lawful, but as meritorious even of divine honour.
1622 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “An Advertisement Touching an Holy Warre. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC1 more example
They [the French] deſire (king Edward [III] grovvne aged) not to ſeeme by ſitting ſtill vpon ſo many thornes of diſgrace, and loſſe, to haue beene outvvarred, though ouer-vvarred, and though in tvvo or three battels inferior, yet not to haue beene clearly debellated.
1611, Iohn Speed [i.e., John Speed], “Edward the Third, […]”, in The History of Great Britaine under the Conquests of yͤ Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans. […], London: […] William Hall and John Beale, for John Sudbury and George Humble, […], →OCLC, book IX ([Englands Monarchs] […]), paragraph 138, page 586, column 2
Origin
- Latindēbellātus
- Englishdebellate
First attested in 1611; borrowed from Latin dēbellātus, perfect passive participle of dēbellō (“to subdue”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of debel.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
debellate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/debellate
“debellate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/debellate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “debellate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/debellate.
Source: debellate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.