dilaniate

D2I1L1A1N1I1A1T1E1
/dɪˈleɪnieɪt/

verb

To rend in pieces; to tear.

OriginLatin dīlāniātus →
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Meanings

verbdilaniate (third-person singular simple present dilaniates, present participle dilaniating, simple past and past participle dilaniated)

present singular third person dilaniates · participle present dilaniating · participle past dilaniated · past dilaniated

  1. obsoleteTo rend in pieces; to tear.
    1 more example

    For although ſix abſolute Princes were interreſſed in the quarrel, and that they had all juſt pretences, and were heated and heightned in their deſignes, yet rather than they would dilaniat the entrailes of their owne mother (faire Italy) and expoſe her thereby to be raviſh'd by Tramontanes, they met half way, and complyed with one another in a gallant kind of freedome, though everie one bore his ſhare in ſome inconvenience.

    1644, James Howell, England’s Teares, for the Present Wars, […], London: […] Richard Heron, →OCLC, page 12

Origin

  1. Latindīlāniātus
  2. Englishdilaniate

First attested in 1535; Borrowed from Latin dīlāniātus, perfect passive participle of dīlāniō (“to dilacerate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dis- + lāniō (“to tear to pieces”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

taenidial
Cite this entry
APA

dilaniate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dilaniate

MLA

“dilaniate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dilaniate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dilaniate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dilaniate.

Source: dilaniate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.