Meanings
present singular third person deracinates · participle present deracinating · participle past deracinated · past deracinated
- To pull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate.
Divert and crack, rend and deracinate, The unity and married calm of states Quite from their fixture!
c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)1 more example
The State has no tool delicate enough to deracinate the rooted habits and tangled affections of the family; the two sexes, whether happy or unhappy, are glued together too tightly for us to get the blade of a legal penknife in between them.
1910, Gilbert K[eith] Chesterton, “chapter 1.7”, in What’s Wrong with the World, London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell and Company, […], →OCLC - To force (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location.
- intransitivetransitiveTo liberate or be liberated from a culture or its norms.
Observing the highest echelons of Indian society, she notes the way in which some Indians become completely — almost absurdly — anglicized or deracinated.
1986, Robert McCrum, William Cran, Robert MacNeil, The Story of English, Viking Penguin Inc., page 328
Synonyms & antonyms
verbmove (people) forcibly from their homeland into a new and foreign environment
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinrādīx, rādīcis“a root”
- Frenchdéraciner
- Englishderacinate
PIE word *wréh₂ds First attested in 1609; calque of French déraciner on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix), from racine (“root”), from Latin rādīx, rādīcis (“a root”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch ontwortelen, deracineren
- ontwortelenpull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
- deracinerenpull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
- onthemenforce (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location
Estonian juurima
- juurimapull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
French déraciner, déraciner
- déracinerpull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
- déracinerforce (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location
German entwurzeln, entwurzeln
- entwurzelnpull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
- entwurzelnforce (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location
Greek ξεριζώνω, ξεριζώνω
- ξεριζώνω (xerizóno)pull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
- ξεριζώνω (xerizóno)force (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location
Italian sradicare, estirpare
- sradicarepull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
- estirparepull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
- sradicareforce (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location
Portuguese desenraizar, extirpar
- desenraizarpull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
- extirparpull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
Spanish desraizar, desenraizar
- desraizarpull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
- desenraizarpull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
- desarraigarforce (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location
Swedish rycka upp med rötterna
- rycka upp med rötternapull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
deracinate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deracinate
“deracinate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deracinate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deracinate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deracinate.
Source: deracinate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.