the.com/annihilation
not defeat, not damage — the complete erasure of a thing from existence, receipt included.
means the total destruction or reduction of something to absolutely nothing, leaving no remainder, structure, or trace behind.
from from latin nihil, meaning nothing, bolted onto ad- (toward) — literally the act of making something go toward nothing. physics later borrowed the word for when matter meets antimatter and both vanish into pure energy.
physics versionmatter plus antimatter equals pure energy, zero leftover mass
military usecame from 14th century latin, meant reducing armies to nothing
e equals mc2annihilation is einstein's equation running at full volume
for instance
electron positron collision — produces two gamma ray photons, no matter survives
carthage 146 bc — rome salted the earth, city erased from the map
jeff vandermeer novel — 2014 book where area x erases identity itself