Denuclearised

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. Made free of nuclear weapons and the nuclear energy facilities that could produce them, as a region or country might be after disarmament
2. Rid of atomic arms and nuclear installations, having had such weapons removed or banned from a territory
3. Cleared of nuclear armament and reactors, so that a place no longer hosts or depends on atomic weapons or power plants

Etymology: "Denuclearised" is the past tense and past participle of "denuclearise," so its history is that of the verb. The base, "nuclear," comes from "nucleus," the Latin word for a kernel or core, and it later came to describe the central core of an atom. The prefix "de-" is the Latin particle for removal or reversal. The ending "-ise" has travelled a long way. It descends from Ancient Greek "-izō," passed through Late Latin "-izō" and Old French "-iser," and reached English in the Middle English form "-isen" before settling into its modern spelling.