Nuclearise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To arm a country, military or region with nuclear weapons ; to convert an industry or territory so that it relies on nuclear power for its energy
2. To provide a state or force with atomic arsenals ; to transform a power supply or economy so that it runs on nuclear energy
3. Supplying nuclear armaments to a nation or army ; switching a sector of the economy over to energy generated from atomic reactors

Etymology: "Nuclearise" is a plain formation: the adjective "nuclear" with the verbal suffix "-ise", meaning to equip with nuclear weapons or power, or to make something nuclear. The suffix is the interesting part of the chain. It descends from an ancient Greek verb ending, "-izein", which English received through Late Latin "-izare", then Middle French "-iser", and finally Middle English "-isen", before settling into the modern "-ise" spelling. Every English verb built this way, from "organise" to "modernise", carries that same ending. The base word has its own surprise. "Nuclear" comes from Latin "nucleus", a diminutive of "nux", meaning "nut", so the notion at its heart is a kernel inside a shell. Physicists borrowed the adjective in the early twentieth century to describe the central core of an atom, and the verb followed once nuclear power and weapons became central to public life.

Synonyms: nuclearize

Antonyms: denuclearise, disarm