Debonded

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Separated materials that had been firmly joined together, such as a composite whose bonded layers were pulled apart
2. Released something that had been stuck fast to another surface so that the two are no longer attached
3. Detached bonded components from one another, breaking the adhesive or joint that once held them together

Etymology: "Debonded" is the past tense and past participle of "debond", a verb formed in English by adding the prefix de- to "bond". The prefix descends from Latin "de", meaning "down", "away" or "off", which passed into English through Old French and Middle English. Its use is not all that old, and English speakers do not need to know the Latin to see what the verb does: it undoes a bond. The verb follows a familiar pattern. English has long used de- to reverse or remove an action, so "debond" joins verbs such as "decode" and "defrost" in meaning "to take apart what was joined." Here the thing taken apart is a bond, whether a physical adhesive join between materials or, in looser use, any tie that holds two things together. The word is therefore a transparent compound rather than a term with a dramatic backstory, and its meaning follows directly from its two parts.

Synonyms: unbond, detach, separate

Antonyms: bond, fasten