Unsealing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of opening or removing a seal from a container or document
2. The process of breaking a closed barrier or official closure to gain access
3. Opening something that was sealed to allow entry or reveal contents

Etymology: "Unsealing" is the present participle of "unseal," formed by adding the prefix "un-" to "seal." The verb is simply a reversal of the act of sealing, so its core sense is undoing a closure that was secured with a seal. The seal itself has a longer ancestry. It traces back through Latin "sigillum," meaning a small sign or figure, which was built on "signum," a mark or token. Anglo-Norman brought the word into English as "seel," which Middle English shortened to "sel," and this eventually became modern "seal." Old English "un-" is the same prefix that gives words like "undo" and "unlock," and it carries the sense of reversing an action.

Synonyms: opening, revealing, disclosing, removing, uncovering

Antonyms: sealing, closing, concealing, hiding, locking