Nuclearizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Supplies a country or force with nuclear weapons ; switches an industry or nation over to reliance on atomic energy
2. Arms a state or military with atomic arsenals ; converts an economy or region so that it runs on nuclear power
3. Provides nuclear armaments to a nation or army ; transforms a system so that it depends on energy produced by nuclear reactors

Etymology: "Nuclearizes" is the third-person singular present form of "nuclearize," so the verb itself is simple: it means to equip something with nuclear weapons or power, or to make a region or state nuclear-armed. The base word is "nuclear," which comes from "nucleus," the Latin word for a kernel or core, with the "-ize" ending added to turn the adjective into a verb. The "-ize" ending has a longer journey than the noun it attaches to. It descends from Ancient Greek "-izein," a suffix for making or becoming something, which passed into Late Latin as "-izare" and reached English through Old French and Middle English as "-isen" before settling into its modern spelling. Because "nuclear" was itself a scientific adjective of the twentieth century, the verb built on it is a modern coinage, formed by attaching a classical suffix to a word that only became common after the atomic age began.

Synonyms: nuke

Antonyms: denuclearize