Vulnerabilizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of increasing susceptibility involves the deliberate reduction of defenses that protect against external threats and risks
2. Enhancing the likelihood of harm occurs when protective barriers are lowered, exposing one more to potential dangers and adversities
3. The process of causing increased exposure to potential harm by weakening safeguards or defenses

Etymology: "Vulnerabilizing" is a formal, somewhat clunky coinage built from "vulnerable" plus the suffix "-ize" (in its British spelling, "-ise"), with the present participle ending "-ing." "Vulnerable" comes, through Old French and Late Latin, from the Latin "vulnerare," "to wound," itself from "vulnus," "wound." The original sense was literal: something that could be wounded. The meaning widened over the centuries to cover any exposure to harm, whether physical, financial, or emotional. The "-ize" suffix, from Greek "-izein" via Latin and French, is a productive way of turning adjectives and nouns into verbs meaning "to make or cause to become" something. "Vulnerabilize" therefore means "to make vulnerable," and the "-ing" form names the process or act itself. Its use is largely confined to security, policy, and risk-management writing, where it is used to describe actions that lower defenses.