Unanchor

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Freeing something from the anchor or fixing that had held it firmly in place so that it can move again
2. Loosening a vessel, object or structure from the mooring or hold that previously kept it fixed
3. Removing the fastening or support that once kept an item steady, letting it drift or shift freely

Etymology: "Unanchor" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-" (meaning "reverse" or "undo") attached to "anchor," so the verb means to undo an anchoring, that is, to free a ship from the anchor that held it fast. The prefix is old native English, inherited from Old English "on-" and "and-," which carried sense of "against" or "back," and it was used productively to reverse actions long before this verb was formed. "Anchor" itself has a deeper pedigree. It traces back through Old English "ancor" and Latin "ancora" to ancient Greek "ágkyra," with a probable pre-Greek origin, and the Germanic and Latin forms are borrowed rather than inherited from a single shared root. The word's ancestry is therefore a chain of borrowings across many centuries of seafaring contact.

Synonyms: unmoor, detach, loosen

Antonyms: anchor, moor, secure