demolere

Demolere is a Latin verb of the third conjugation meaning to demolish, tear down, or destroy, especially in relation to buildings or fortifications, but it can also be used figuratively to dismantle institutions, plans, or structures. In classical and late Latin texts it is used to describe the physical tearing down of walls and monuments as well as broader destruction. The principal parts are demolere, demolui, demolitus, from which the passive participle demolitus yields related forms such as the noun demolitiō (demolition) in later Latin.

Etymology and usage notes: the verb is generally analyzed as formed from de- “down” plus molere “to grind, crush,” with the sense evolving from reduction of material to total destruction of a structure. It is distinct from delere, which more often conveys erasure or wiping out without the same emphasis on architectural collapse, and from rumpere or ruere, which emphasize breaking or rushing crashing action. In Latin, demolere can carry both literal and metaphorical meanings of dismantling or abolishing what previously existed, and it appears in military, architectural, and rhetorical contexts.

English derivatives and related terms: the verb gives the noun demolitiō (demolition), and from it English words such as demolish and demolition originate via medieval Latin and Old French routes. Its use in modern scholarship is mainly historical or philological, noting how ancient authors described the tearing down of structures or the deliberate undermining of plans.