Annihilate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Annihilated; p. pr. & vb. n. Annihilating.]
Etymology: [L. annihilare; ad + nihilum, nihil, nothing, ne hilum (filum) not a thread, nothing at all. Cf. File, a row.]
1. To reduce to nothing or nonexistence; to destroy the existence of; to cause to cease to be. It impossible for any body to be utterly annihilated. Bacon.
2. To destroy the form or peculiar distinctive properties of, so that the specific thing no longer exists; as, to annihilate a forest by cutting down the trees. "To annihilate the army." Macaulay.
3. To destroy or eradicate, as a property or attribute of a thing; to make of no effect; to destroy the force, etc., of; as, to annihilate an argument, law, rights, goodness.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Annihilate, a.
Anhilated. [Archaic] Swift.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for annihilate; he lists it under abolish, exterminate.
Where he writes about it:
Annihilate, as a philosophical term, signifies to put absolutely out of existence. — from abolish