Explain what is meant by the term 'type erasure' in programming languages.

Type erasure is a mechanism used in some programming languages with generics, such as Java. During compilation, information about the specific parameter types of generics is removed (erased), and in the compiled code, only the base type remains (for example, Object). This allows compatibility with non-generic code but imposes restrictions, such as not being able to use specific parameter types at runtime.

Example: in Java, List<String> and List<Integer> look like just List at runtime, and the JVM does not distinguish their element types.