deracinate

[ dih-ras-uh-neyt ]

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.

deracinate

/ dɪˈræsɪˌneɪt /

verb

1. to pull up by or as if by the roots; uproot; extirpate
2. to remove, as from a natural environment

Derived Forms

• deˌraciˈnation, noun

Other Words From

• de·raci·nation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of deracinate¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from French déracin(er), equivalent to dé- + -raciner, verbal derivative of racine “root,” from Late Latin rādīcīna for Latin rādīc-, stem of rādīx + -ate; dis- ¹, root ¹( def ), -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of deracinate¹

C16: from Old French desraciner, from des- dis- ¹+ racine root, from Late Latin rādīcīna a little root, from Latin rādīx a root

Example Sentences

Whole Foods replaced Mrs. Gooch’s, but after being deracinated by Amazon, it became passé, less and less a signifier of status.

From Los Angeles Times

Fiction matters more now, in a world increasingly deracinated by technology.

From New York Times

Yet it’s not the dialects so much that deracinate the production as the nowhere scenic design.

From Los Angeles Times

“Our education effectively deracinated us,” she writes, “suspending us in a kind of colonial non-space designed to ensure that we did not identify too closely with any place.”

From New York Times

Like nearly everyone in this novel, she leads a globalized, deracinated life.

From New York Times

Related Words

• abolish
• annihilate
• eliminate
• erase
• expunge
• exterminate
• extinguish
• stamp out
• uproot
• weed out
• wipe out