Exterminate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Exterminated(); p. pr. & vb. n. Exterminating().]
Etymology: [L. exterminatus, p. p. of exterminare to abolish, destroy, drive out or away; ex out + terminus boundary, limit. See Term.]
1. To drive out or away; to expel. They deposed, exterminated, and deprived him of communion. Barrow.
2. To destroy utterly; to cut off; to extirpate; to annihilate; to root out; as, to exterminate a colony, a tribe, or a nation; to exterminate error or vice. To explode and exterminate rank atheism. Bentley.
3. (Math.)
To eliminate, as unknown quantities. [R.]
Shades of meaning
Exterminate (L. ex, out, and terminus, a boundary) signified primarily to drive beyond the bounds or limits of a country; the word is applied to races of men or animals, and is now almost exclusively used for removal by death; individuals are now said to be banished or expelled. Eradicate (L. e, out, and radix, root) is primarily applied to numbers or groups of plants which it is desired to remove effectually from the soil; a single tree may be uprooted, but is not said to be eradicated; we labor to eradicate or root out noxious weeds. To extirpate (L. ex, out, and stirps, stem, stock) is not only to destroy the individuals of any race of plants or animals, but the very stock, so that the race can never be restored; we speak of eradicating a disease, of extirpating a cancer, exterminating wild beasts or hostile tribes; we seek to eradicate or extirpate all vices and evils. Compare abolish.