deracinate

English

WOTD – 20 December 2013

Etymology

Calque of French déraciner, from racine (“root”), from Latin radix, radicis (“root”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈɹæsɪnaɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

1. To pull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate.
   • 1602, Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

     Divert and crack, rend and deracinate,

     The unity and married calm of states

     Quite from their fixture!

   • 1910, G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World, chapter 1.7

     The State has no tool delicate enough to deracinate the rooted habits and tangled affections of the family; the two sexes, whether happy or unhappy, are glued together too tightly for us to get the blade of a legal penknife in between them.

2. To force (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To liberate or be liberated from a culture or its norms.
   • 1986 Robert McCrum, William Cran, & Robert MacNeil, The Story of English, Viking Penguin Inc., p328:

     Observing the highest echelons of Indian society, she notes the way in which some Indians become completely — almost absurdly — anglicized or deracinated.

Translations

pull up by the roots; to uproot; to extirpate

• Dutch: ontwortelen (nl), deracineren
• French: déraciner (fr)
• German: entwurzeln (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: ξεριζώνω (el) (xerizóno)
• Italian: sradicare (it), estirpare (it)
• Swedish: rycka upp med rötterna

force (people) from their homeland to a new or foreign location

• Dutch: onthemen
• French: déraciner (fr)
• German: entwurzeln (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: ξεριζώνω (el) (xerizóno)
• Italian: sradicare (it)

liberate or be liberated from a culture or its norms

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: (1, 2) ^{(please verify)} déraciner (fr)
• German: (1, 2) ^{(please verify)} entwurzeln (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Punjabi: ^{(please verify)} ਜੜੋਂ ਪੁੱਟਣਾ (jaṛõ puṭṭaṇā)

Anagrams

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