Meaning

verb destroy completely, as if down to the roots

verb pull up by or as if by the roots

verb surgically remove (an organ)

originThe verb is first attested in 1538, the adjective in 1541; borrowed from Latin exstirpātus perfect passive participle of exstirpō (“to uproot”), from ex- (“out of”) + stirps (“the lower part of the trunk of a tree, including the roots; the stem, stalk”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)). Doublet of extirp. Common participial usage of…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0