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dilapidate. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
dilapidate, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
dilapidate in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
dilapidate you have here. The definition of the word
dilapidate will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
dilapidate, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Latin dilapidātus, past participle of dilapidō (“I destroy with stones”), from dis- (“intensifier”) + lapidō (“I stone”), from lapis (“stone”).
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) IPA(key): /dɪˈlæp.ɪ.deɪt/, /dəˈlæp.ə.deɪt/
Verb
dilapidate (third-person singular simple present dilapidates, present participle dilapidating, simple past and past participle dilapidated)
- (transitive) To cause to become ruined or put into disrepair.
1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC:If the bishop, parson, or vicar, etc., dilapidates the buildings, or cuts down the timber of the patrimony […]
1883, George Bernard Shaw, chapter VI, in An Unsocial Socialist:In the last days of autumn he had whitewashed the chalet, painted the doors, windows, and veranda, repaired the roof and interior, and improved the place so much that the landlord had warned him that the rent would be raised at the expiration of his twelvemonth's tenancy, remarking that a tenant could not reasonably expect to have a pretty, rain-tight dwelling-house for the same money as a hardly habitable ruin. Smilash had immediately promised to dilapidate it to its former state at the end of the year.
- (transitive, figurative) To squander or waste.
1692, Anthony Wood, Athenae Oxonienses:The patrimony of the bishopric of Oxon was much dilapidated.
- (intransitive, archaic) To fall into ruin or disuse.
Related terms
Translations
to cause to become ruined or put into disrepair
to fall into ruin or disuse
Italian
Etymology 1
Verb
dilapidate
- inflection of dilapidare:
- second-person plural present indicative
- second-person plural imperative
Etymology 2
Participle
dilapidate f pl
- feminine plural of dilapidato
Latin
Verb
dīlapidāte
- second-person plural present active imperative of dīlapidō
Spanish
Verb
dilapidate
- second-person singular voseo imperative of dilapidar combined with te