Demagnetise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To eliminate the magnetic field or magnetic properties present in a material or object
2. To strip an object of its magnetism so that it no longer attracts or repels magnetic materials
3. To remove or neutralize the magnetic effect within a substance, rendering it non-magnetic

Etymology: "Demagnetise" is a plain formation: the prefix "de-", meaning "reversal or removal of", attached to "magnetise". The prefix is Latin, from "dē", "down, away from", and it reached English through Latin and French as a productive way to name the undoing of a process. Adding it to "magnetise" gives the sense of taking away a magnet's power. The base word carries the older history. "Magnetise" traces to "magnes", the Greek name for the lodestone, a naturally magnetic iron ore, which is said to have been named after Magnesia, a region in Asia Minor where it was found. Latin borrowed the Greek form as "magnes", and it passed into Middle English as "magnete" through Old French. The verb ending "-ise" comes from Greek "-izein" by way of Late Latin "-izare" and Old French "-iser", so "magnetise" was built on the noun in English.

Synonyms: degauss, neutralize