deracinate

[ dih-ras-uh-neyt ]
/ dɪˈræs əˌneɪt /

verb (used with object), de·rac·i·nat·ed, de·rac·i·nat·ing.

to pull up by the roots; uproot; extirpate; eradicate.
to isolate or alienate (a person) from a native or customary culture or environment.

VIDEO FOR DERACINATE

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The word deracinate can be used in a few different ways. Deracinate typically is seen in a negative light because to be grounded is to be stable and to be de-rooted is scary. But, sometimes, this word can be turned into a positive experience.

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Origin of deracinate

1590–1600; < French déracin(er) (equivalent to dé- dis-1 + -raciner, verbal derivative of racine root < Late Latin rādīcīna for Latin rādīc-, stem of rādīx) + -ate1

OTHER WORDS FROM deracinate

de·rac·i·na·tion, noun

Example sentences from the Web for deracinate

  • You cannot deracinate that wide-rooted dogma within your soul that more money means more joy.

    The Human Machine |E. Arnold Bennett
  • No one by taking thought, can deracinate the mental habits of, say, twenty years.

    Journalism for Women |E.A. Bennett
  • To deracinate Lowell was impossible, and it was for this very reason that he became so serviceable an international personage.

  • Och, and the girls whose poor hearts you deracinate, Whirl and bewilder and flutter and fascinate!

British Dictionary definitions for deracinate

deracinate
/ (dɪˈræsɪˌneɪt) /

verb (tr)

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

Derived forms of deracinate

deracination, noun

Word Origin for deracinate

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