Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DERACINATE

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connect today's word to others: To rip something out by its roots is to deracinate it. Could you explain why this word looks like radish and radical? If you're not sure, you can find the answer the near the top of this page, about the word eradicate. Eradicate is a close synonym of today's deracinate--both can mean "to destroy something, as if you're ripping it out by the roots"--but here are two differences. First, when you eradicate something, you rip it out to get rid of it. But when you deracinate something, although you might ruin it in the process, you might not: you could just be removing it, violently and utterly, from its home or its environment. And second, it's often good when we eradicate things: we eradicate weeds, vermin, poverty, and diseases. But it's often bad when things get deracinated: wars deracinate people, climate change deracinates species, and according to cranky old bloggers, millennials are deracinating our industries and traditions. make your point with... "DERACINATE" To deracinate people or things is to uproot them, either destroying them or totally removing them from their usual or natural environment.     Pronunciation: dih RASS in ate Part of speech: Transitive verb. (Like "eat," "try," and "want," all transitive verbs do something to an object. You eat a banana, try a game, and want a new phone. Likewise, you deracinate something or someone.) Other forms: Deracinated, deracinating, deracination. "Déraciné" ("day RASS in AY") is an adjective that describes people deracinated from their usual environments. Keep it in italics, because even though we use it in English, it hasn't yet been naturalized from French. How to use it: This word is formal and serious, with a negative tone. Just like we do with the word eradicate, we talk about deracinating things and people that are deeply connected to other things, as if they have roots.  Although we can say that people deracinate things (or other people), more often we talk about forces and situations that deracinate, likes wars, famines, the effects of climate change and so on. And very often we take the verb "deracinate" and turn it into an adjective--"deracinated" or "deracinating"--so we can talk about the results or effects of deracination. So, let's look at the adjective "deracinated," meaning "uprooted" or "rootless."  We might be literal and talk about deracinated trees or weeds, if we need to emphasize the totality and stark violence with which how they were yanked from the ground.  But more often we're figurative, talking about deracinated people, like deracinated refugees or writers, or people deracinated from their families, hometowns, nations, or cultures. Here's Byron Johnson Rees, talking about the New England poet James Russell Lowell: "To deracinate Lowell was impossible... his roots ran down two hundred years deep. He was the incarnation of his native soil." We might also talk about deracinated fiction and film (those that seem to take place in Nowheresville), deracinated flavors and foods (those that bear no resemblance to their cultural origins), deracinated ideas and theories (those that are yanked firmly from the "ground" of reality or possibility), and so on. Finally, there's the adjective "deracinating," meaning "uprooting." We can talk about the deracinating forces, powers, or effects of wars, famines, climate change and so on. examples: Although The Simpsons takes place in Springfield, a generic town in a nebulous location, that's not to say the setting is deracinated: it's deeply American. In east Tennessee I made the mistake of asking for salsa. It was a spoonful of deracinated paste, all preservatives, no kick. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "deracinate" means when you can explain it without saying "yank out" or "uproot." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Something) managed to deracinate (someone or something); (his, her, or its) (type of) roots are nowhere in sight." Example: "Pop music managed to deracinate Taylor Swift; her country roots are nowhere in sight." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is "The Meanings of Maladies." I'll share a tidbit about the word for a particular symptom, disease, or condition, and you try to name it. We'll start with common maladies and work our way toward the rare and strange. From our previous issue: The word for this disease comes straight from the Latin word for "wolf;" early references to the disease describe it as "hungry" and "consuming." What is it? Answer: Lupus. It's closely related to lupine, that wolfy word meaning "greedy, dangerous, predatory, and/or destructive." Try this today: The word for this disease is also the name of a certain animal on the zodiac. Why? When some ancient Greek physicians looked at a swelling on the body, surrounded by veins, they thought the whole area resembled that animal. What's the disease called? review today's word: 1. The opposite of DERACINATE is A. EMBED. B. RACIALIZE. C. GENERALIZE. 2. Feeling rather déraciné, I _____. A. spoke my mind B. laughed loudly, ignoring the stares C. wondered if I'd ever be at home here Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. A 2. C