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deracinate

[dih-ras-uh-neyt]
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verb (used with object), de·rac·i·nat·ed, de·rac·i·nat·ing.
  1. to pull up by the roots; uproot; extirpate; eradicate.
  2. to isolate or alienate (a person) from a native or customary culture or environment.
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Origin of deracinate

1590–1600; < French déracin(er) (equivalent to dé- dis-1 + -raciner, verbal derivative of racine root < Late Latin rādīcīna for Latin rādīc-, stem of rādīx) + -ate1
Related formsde·rac·i·na·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for deracination

Historical Examples

  • No child was ever made the subject of a more complete theory of deracination.

    The American Spirit in Literature,

    Bliss Perry

  • His deracination begins with the education that sends him to Paris, there to lose his originality.

    Egoists

    James Huneker

British Dictionary definitions for deracination

deracinate

verb (tr)
  1. to pull up by or as if by the roots; uproot; extirpate
  2. to remove, as from a natural environment
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Derived Formsderacination, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Old French desraciner, from des- dis- 1 + racine root, from Late Latin rādīcīna a little root, from Latin rādīx a root
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for deracination

deracinate

n.

1590s, "to pluck up by the roots," from French déraciner, from Old French desraciner "uproot, dig out, pull up by the roots," from des- (see dis-) + racine "root," from Late Latin radicina, diminutive of Latin radix (see radish). Related: Deracinated.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper