abolish

The word 'abolish' entered English in the late Middle English period from Old French 'aboliss-', the stem of 'abolir'. Its ultimate source is Latin 'abolere', meaning "to destroy, cause to die out, retard the growth of." This Latin verb is a compound of 'ab-' ("away") and the root related to 'alescere' ("to grow"), literally conveying the idea of "to cause to grow away" or "to retard growth." Over centuries, this literal sense of suppressing growth evolved into the modern abstract meaning of formally putting an end to something, such as a law or custom, effectively causing it to cease to exist.

Structure: ab (away) + ol (grow) + ish (verb suffix) - ab: A Latin prefix meaning "away from" or "off." - ol: A morpheme derived from the Latin verb 'olere' (variant of 'alescere'), meaning "to grow." - ish: A verb-forming suffix of French origin, ultimately from Latin '-izare' and Greek '-izein', indicating "to make" or "to do."