delete

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To remove or erase something, especially text or data on a computer.

   I accidentally deleted the file from my laptop.

2. 2
   noun

   The act of removing data or text.

   One wrong delete can wipe out hours of work.

From Latin dēlētus, past participle of dēlēre (“destroy, blot out, efface”), from dēlēvī, originally perf. tense of dēlinere (“to daub, erase by smudging”), from dē- (“from, away”) + linere (“to smear, wipe”). Original sense first appears c. 1495. In common use for ordering the absence of features of products (such as automobiles) in the 1960s. The computing sense, including the noun form, first appears c. 1977 in Software: Practice & Experience. Not related to deleterious. Doublet of delible and deleble.

Topics