Delete

How to spell delete

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce delete

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does delete mean?

1. verbTo remove or erase something, especially text or a file.

Delete in a sentence

• Remember to delete the old drafts before sending the final report.

• The editor asked the writer to delete the repeated paragraph.

Where does delete come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin delere, which meant 'to wipe out', 'to blot out', or 'to destroy'. Its past participle was deletus, and that form is the direct source of the English verb. The early sense in Latin involved literally erasing writing from a wax tablet or scrubbing marks off a surface, so the idea of removal was physical long before it was digital. English picked up the word in the 1400s and 1500s, used chiefly in the technical, editorial sense of striking out text from a manuscript. The spelling stays close to the Latin root, with the single 'l' and the long 'e' sounds that can trip up writers who expect a doubled consonant. Its modern dominance owes much to the computer keyboard, where the Delete key turned a quiet editorial term into one of the most common verbs of everyday life.

How the word is built

• de- (away, off)
• -lete (from Latin delere: to wipe out, destroy)