fumigate

F4U1M3I1G2A1T1E1
/ˈfjuːmɪɡeɪt/

verb

To disinfect, purify, or rid of vermin with the fumes of certain chemicals.

Similar
fume
OriginLatin fūmigātus →
RareScrabble 14
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Meanings

verbfumigate (third-person singular simple present fumigates, present participle fumigating, simple past and past participle fumigated)

present singular third person fumigates · participle present fumigating · participle past fumigated · past fumigated

  1. transitiveTo disinfect, purify, or rid of vermin with the fumes of certain chemicals.

    ‘Pest control are coming too. They’ll be fumigating the place.’

    2016, Ian McEwan, Nutshell, Vintage, page 87
    1 more example

    They fumigated the Church with burnt wool and feathers instead of incense, put foul water into the holy-water basins, and celebrated a parody on the Church-service, the mock Abbot officiating at the altar; […]

    1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 319

Synonyms & antonyms

verbtreat with fumes, expose to fumes, especially with the aim of disinfecting or eradicating pests

Similar
fume
Broader
processtreat
Also see
bug bombfumesmudgetent

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinfūmigātus
  2. Englishfumigate

First attested in 1530; borrowed from Latin fūmigātus, perfect passive participle of fūmigō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from fūmus (“smoke”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek θειόω
  • θειόω (theióō)disinfect
Bulgarian опушвам
  • опушвам (opušvam)disinfect
Catalan fumigar
  • fumigardisinfect
Chinese Mandarin 熏製, 香薰
  • 熏製 (xūnzhì)disinfect
  • 香薰 (xiāngxūn)disinfect
  • 消毒 (xiāodú)disinfect
Danish desinficere (disinfecting), gasse
  • desinficere (disinfecting)disinfect
  • gassedisinfect
Dutch uitroken
  • uitrokendisinfect
Esperanto fumigacii
  • fumigaciidisinfect
Finnish desinfioida, savustaa
  • desinfioidadisinfect
  • savustaadisinfect
French fumiger
  • fumigerdisinfect
German ausräuchern
  • ausräucherndisinfect
Japanese 消毒する
  • 消毒する (shōdokusuru)disinfect
Latin fūmigō
  • fūmigōdisinfect
Māori tāpoa
  • tāpoadisinfect
Portuguese fumigar
  • fumigardisinfect
Russian оку́ривать
  • оку́ривать (okúrivatʹ)disinfect
Spanish fumigar
  • fumigardisinfect
Tagalog suubin
  • suubindisinfect
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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