Denativize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To remove or reverse a chemical or physical alteration that renders a substance unfit for a particular use or consumption ; to restore or convert something back to its original, unaltered state ; to undo a destructive or modifying process applied to a material or compound
2. The act of eliminating a modification that makes a substance unusable for its intended purpose ; the process of reinstating original properties or qualities to an altered item ; the reversal of treatment that prevents normal use or function
3. The process of taking away an alteration which disables normal use ; restoring an item or compound to a usable and natural form ; reversing a treatment intended to make a substance unsuitable or impure

Etymology: "Denativize" is a rare verb, and its history is plain: it is formed from "de-" (a prefix meaning reversal or removal, from Latin "de") plus "nativize," itself built on "native." The "de-" element here is the reversing one, so the verb's core sense is undoing a state of being made non-native or non-natural. The word's real interest lies in its technical use. In chemistry and industrial processing, "denaturing" describes deliberately altering a substance so it becomes unfit for its intended purpose, as with ethanol mixed with additives to make it undrinkable and exempt from alcohol tax. Denativizing reverses that treatment, restoring the material to a usable state. The same logic applies to items whose function has been disabled by a modification. Because the word is a specialized coinage built from ordinary English parts, its meaning follows directly from those parts rather than from any shift in sense. It is most often found in technical, legal, or regulatory writing where the reversal of a deliberate alteration needs to be named precisely.

Synonyms: derivatize, deform, deprive

Antonyms: nativate, naturalize