dilapidate
pronunciation
How to pronounce dilapidate in British English:
UK [dɪ'læpɪdeɪt]
How to pronounce dilapidate in American English:
US [dɪˈlæpɪˌdet]
-
- Verb:
- bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin by neglect or misuse
Word Origin
- dilapidate
- dilapidate: [16] It is a common misconception that dilapidate means literally ‘fall apart stone by stone’, since the word comes ultimately from Latin lapis ‘stone’ (as in lapis lazuli [14], literally ‘azure stone’). But in fact Latin dīlapidāre meant ‘squander’ (a sense once current in English, but now superseded). It was a compound verb formed from the prefix dis- ‘apart’ and lapidāre ‘throw stones’, and thus originally must have meant literally ‘scatter like stones’, but its only recorded sense is the metaphorical extension ‘throw away or destroy wantonly, squander’.The application of the word to the destruction of buildings is a piece of later etymologizing.=> lapis lazuli
- dilapidate (v.)
- 1560s, "to bring a building to ruin," from Latin dilapidatus, past participle of dilapidare "to squander, waste," originally "to throw stones, scatter like stones;" see dilapidation. Perhaps the English word is a back-formation from dilapidation.
Example
- 1. Second , they may indulge in it , thus dilapidate their study , which isn 't rare .