ANNI'HILATE, verb transitive [Latin ad and nihilum, nothing, of ne, not, and hilum, a trifle.] 1. To reduce to nothing; to destroy the existence of. No human power can annihilate matter. 2. To destroy the form or peculiar distinctive properties, so that the specific thing no longer exists; as, to annihilate a forest by cutting and carrying away the trees, though the timber may still exist; to annihilate a house by demolishing the structure.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI