What is the Latin word for efface?

The usual Latin words for “efface” are dēleō, exstinguō, indūcō; also ērādō, oblitterō, ēluō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“efface” in Latin

dēleōto destroy, raze, annihilate; to finish, terminate, put an end to; to delete (e.g. Ecclesiastical: from the book of life exstinguōto quench, extinguish, put out; to destroy, kill, slay, abolish indūcōto lead, bring or conduct in or into somewhere; to bring forward, exhibit, represent; to bring into or before a court ērādōto scrape away, pare; to abolish, eradicate, remove; to erase, delete oblitterōto erase, efface, obliterate, blot out; to consign to oblivion, cause to be forgotten ēluōto wash out or away; to rinse; to elute

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

efface

delere: exstinguere (general terms; also figuratively): inducere: eradere: oblitterare [SYN. in BLOT OUT]: To efface the recollection of anything, memoriam alicujus rei delere or oblitterare; an insult, contumeliam exstinguere; a disgrace, maculam delere, eluere; anybody’s name from the register (Addison), nomen alicujus eximere de tabulis; anybody’s name from the list of senators, eradere aliquem albo senatorio (Tac.); from a book, nomen tollere ex libro: the recollection of anything is gradually effaced, memoria alicujus rei sensim obscuratur et evanescit. Vid: ERASE.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for efface?: The usual Latin words for “efface” are dēleō, exstinguō, indūcō; also ērādō, oblitterō, ēluō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.