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Traditionally taken as a back-formation from dēlēvī, originally the perfect tense of dēlinō(“to wipe off”), from dē- + linō(“to daub, smear”). However, de Vaan is skeptical of the derivation due to the lack of concurrent attestation of dēlinō with linō and lēvī (all attestations of dēlinō come later), and prefers Meiser's derivation from a causative *dē-oleō, from dē- + Proto-Indo-European*h₃elh₁-(“to destroy”), comparing Hittite(hallanna/i-ᶦ, “to trample down”), Ancient Greekὄλλῡμι(óllūmi, “to wreck, destroy”). Possibly also related to Ancient Greekδηλέομαι(dēléomai, “to destroy, annihilate, spoil”).
^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 165