Uninstalling

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The activity of erasing a software application and its related files from a computing device occurs during the relinquishment of the program from the system
2. The process of deleting a software program and all its components from a computer or device
3. When a user eliminates an application and its associated data from digital hardware

Etymology: "Uninstalling" is the present participle and gerund of "uninstall", so the history belongs to the verb itself. The verb is formed from the reversing prefix "un-" added to "install", which means to set up or put in place. Adding "un-" to a verb to mean undoing the action is a long-standing English pattern, as in "unlock", "unpack" and "undress", and "uninstall" follows it directly. Here the thing being put in place and then reversed is a program, along with its files and settings. "Install" itself comes from Latin roots meaning to place someone into a seat or position, with the sense of formally putting a person into an office. English later extended it to putting equipment or software into position, so the verb has moved from ceremonial seating to computing. The reversal "uninstall" carries that same movement, now meaning to remove a program completely from a device.

Synonyms: removing, deleting, erasing, disabling, unloading

Antonyms: installing, adding, uploading, deploying, setting up