Erase
/ɪˈreɪz/noun
To remove or wipe out writing, marks, data, or traces.
Did you know?The word ultimately comes from Latin *radere*, “to scrape,” the same root behind English words like *raze* and *razor*—so “erasing” began as a physical act of scraping a surface clean.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*red-
“to scrape, shave, or strip off”
Latin
Latin
radere
“to scrape, shave, or scrape away”
Late Latin
Latin
erasare
“to scrape off, rub out”
Old French
Old French
esraser / eraser
“to scrape out, obliterate”
Middle English
English
erasen
“to scrape out; delete writing”
Modern English
English
erase
“to remove writing, marks, or data from a surface”