erasure

English

Etymology

From Latin ērādō (to erase) + -tūra, equivalent to erase +‎ -ure.

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ɪˈɹeɪʃɚ/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪˈɹeɪʒə/, /ɪˈɹeɪʒʊə/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: e‧ra‧sure

Noun

erasure (countable and uncountable, plural erasures)

  1. The action of erasing; deletion; obliteration.
  2. The state of having been erased; total blankness.
    • 2004 October 18, The New Yorker:
      Bush, even when he had the floor, grimaced as he spoke, except on several occasions when he lost his way and a look of total erasure came over him, a blank, stricken stare for which the French, alas, have the most apt expression: like a cow watching a train go by.
  3. The place where something has been erased.
    There were several erasures on the paper.
  4. (sociology) A tendency to ignore or conceal an element of society.
    bisexual erasure

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References

Latin

Participle

ērāsūre

  1. vocative masculine singular of ērāsūrus