Radioiodinating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Treating or tagging a substance, cell or compound with a radioactive form of iodine so it can be traced or imaged
2. Attaching radioactive iodine atoms to a molecule, often for medical scanning or tracking its movement in the body
3. Introducing an iodine radioisotope into a material or tissue in order to follow its path or measure its activity

Etymology: Radioiodinating is the present participle of "radioiodinate", a verb built by attaching "radio-" to "iodinate". The base word, "iodinate", means to treat or combine a substance with iodine, and the prefix "radio-" signals that the iodine involved is radioactive. The verb follows the pattern set by "radioiodine", the name for radioactive isotopes of iodine, and so describes the process of attaching those isotopes to a molecule, most often for medical imaging or treatment. The word is a modern technical coinage, formed from familiar parts rather than inherited from older languages. Its meaning is fixed by the chemistry it names, so there is no older sense to trace or reverse.