Meanings
plural exterminations
- countableuncountableThe act of exterminating; total destruction or eradication.
extermination of error or vice
3 more examples
extermination of weeds from a field
Depending on the case, extermination of a group of people may constitute genocide or crime against humanity.
Caley locomotive types, especially such numerous things as McIntosh goods and tank engines, have defied extermination over a good many years now.
1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 3Synonyms: excision
- countableuncountableElimination.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe act of exterminating; total destruction or eradication.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ecclesiastical Latinexterminātiō
- Middle Frenchextermination
- Englishextermination
Borrowed from Middle French extermination, itself a learned borrowing from Ecclesiastical Latin exterminātiō.
More words from Middle French, Ecclesiastical Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic إبادة
- إبادة (ʔibāda)the act of exterminating
Danish udrydning
- udrydningthe act of exterminating
French extermination
- exterminationthe act of exterminating
German Ausrottung, Vernichtung
- Ausrottungthe act of exterminating
- Vernichtungthe act of exterminating
Hebrew השמדה
- השמדהthe act of exterminating
Italian sterminazione, sterminio
- sterminazionethe act of exterminating
- sterminiothe act of exterminating
Polish eksterminacja
- eksterminacjathe act of exterminating
Portuguese exterminação, extermínio
- exterminaçãothe act of exterminating
- extermíniothe act of exterminating
Romanian exterminare, exterminațiune
- exterminarethe act of exterminating
- exterminațiunethe act of exterminating
Russian уничтоже́ние, истребле́ние
- уничтоже́ние (uničtožénije)the act of exterminating
- истребле́ние (istreblénije)the act of exterminating
Spanish exterminio, exterminación
- exterminiothe act of exterminating
- exterminaciónthe act of exterminating
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with extermination
Cite this entry
extermination. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extermination
“extermination.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extermination. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “extermination,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extermination.
Source: extermination on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.