nuclear
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English
Etymology
From Latin nū̆cleus, a contraction of the adjective nuculeus, masculine of feminine nuculea (“pertaining to a small nut”) from nucula + adjectival suffix -eus, -ea, -eum. The Latin nucula + -āris adds up to nuculāris, a term that in English becomes nucular; the Latin nuculea + -āris, becomes Latin nuculeāris (“relative to what pertains to small nut”), later contracted into nuclear. By surface analysis, nucle(us) + -ar = nucle- + -ar. Compare muscle and Latin mūsculus; muscular and mūsculāris.
Pronunciation
- (Canada) enPR: n(y)o͞okliər, IPA(key): /ˈn(j)u.kli.ɚ/
Audio (CA) (file)
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: nyo͞oklî(r), IPA(key): /ˈnjuː.klɪə(ɹ)/
Audio (UK) (file)
- (US) enPR: n(y)o͞okliər, n(y)o͞okyələr, IPA(key): /ˈn(j)u.kli.ɚ/
- (proscribed) IPA(key): /ˈn(j)u.kjə.lɚ/ (see usage notes)
Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -uːkliə(ɹ), -uːklɪə(ɹ), -uːkjələ(ɹ)
Adjective
nuclear (not comparable)
- Pertaining to the nucleus of an atom.
- Involving energy released by nuclear reactions (fission, fusion, radioactive decay).
- a nuclear reactor
- nuclear technology
- Relating to a weapon that derives its force from rapid release of energy through nuclear reactions.
- a nuclear explosion
- (by extension, figurative, of a solution or response) Involving an extreme course of action.
- nuclear option, nuclear solution
- 2011, Todd Lipscomb, Re-Made in the USA, →ISBN:
- The states begging for aid get turned away; and sharp cuts in government employment, spending, and, eventually, pension payments are the only alternative future, beyond the nuclear solution of defaulting on our debt.
- 2013, Erica Sadun, iOS Auto Layout Demystified, →ISBN, page 150:
- The nuclear approach is the simpler of the two. When two constraints conflict, you can kill one of them.
- 2017 April 6, Mythili Sampathkumar, “Democrats filibuster forces Republicans to use 'nuclear option to confirm Trump's Supreme Court pick”, in The Independent:
- Republicans have taken the historic step of triggering the so-called "nuclear option" to change the rules of the Senate and push through Donald Trump's pick for the Supreme Court, after Democrats blocked the nomination.
- (biology) Pertaining to the nucleus of a cell.
- 2011, Terence Allen, Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, page 17:
- However, the DNA in a bacterial cell is a single circular molecule and there is no separate nuclear compartment.
- (archaic) Pertaining to a centre around which something is developed or organised; central, pivotal.
- Nuclear Polynesian languages include Hawaiian and Samoan.
Usage notes
- The pronunciation /nukjəlɚ/, although included by some sources such as Merriam-Webster (Online 10th Edition), is nonstandard and listed as such. See also nucular, and nucular in Wikipedia.
Derived terms
- anti-nuclear antibody
- anti-nuclear factor
- anuclear
- astronuclear
- binuclear
- burning nuclear plasma
- centronuclear
- circumnuclear
- corticonuclear
- cytonuclear
- dinuclear
- effective nuclear charge
- electronuclear
- endonuclear
- extranuclear
- geonuclear
- go nuclear
- hadronuclear
- heptanuclear
- heteronuclear
- hexanuclear
- homonuclear
- hypernuclear
- infranuclear
- internuclear
- intranuclear
- isonuclear
- juxtanuclear
- macronuclear
- micronuclear
- mitonuclear
- mononuclear
- morphonuclear
- multinuclear
- myonuclear
- neuronuclear
- nonnuclear
- nuclear age
- nuclear airburst
- nuclear aircraft
- nuclear-armed
- nuclear artillery
- nuclear autumn
- nuclear battery
- nuclear binding energy
- nuclear body
- nuclear bomb
- nuclear cataract
- nuclear certifiable
- nuclear certified
- nuclear chain reaction
- nuclear charge
- nuclear chemistry
- nuclear code
- nuclear cytoplasm
- nuclear data
- nuclear decay
- nuclear democracy
- nuclear deterrent
- nuclear disintegration
- nuclear-electric rocket
- nuclear electric rocket
- nuclear emulsion
- nuclear energy
- nuclear envelope
- nuclear explosion
- nuclear fallout
- nuclear family
- nuclear famine
- nuclear fission
- nuclear force
- nuclear forensics
- nuclear fratricide
- nuclear-free
- nuclear-free zone
- nuclear fuel
- nuclear fusion
- nuclear gene
- nuclear halo
- nuclear hardness
- nuclear hazard
- nuclear hydrogen detection meter
- nuclear incident
- nuclear inclusion body
- nuclear intelligence
- nuclearisation
- nuclearise
- nuclearism
- nuclear isomer
- nuclearite
- nuclearity
- nuclearize
- nuclear lamina
- nuclearly
- nuclear magnetic moment
- nuclear magnetic pulse
- nuclear magnetic resonance
- nuclear magneton
- nuclear material
- nuclear matrix
- nuclear medicine
- nuclear meltdown
- nuclear membrane
- nuclear nation
- nuclear navy
- nuclear notation
- nuclear operator
- nuclear ophthalmoplegia
- nuclear option
- nuclear Overhauser effect
- nuclear parity
- nuclear pasta
- nuclear photonic rocket
- nuclear physicist
- nuclear physics
- nuclear pile
- nuclear plasma
- nuclear poison
- nuclear pore complex
- nuclear power
- nuclear power plant
- nuclear power station
- nuclear pulse propulsion
- nuclear-pulse rocket
- nuclear quadropole resonance
- nuclear quadrupole resonance
- nuclear radiation
- nuclear reaction
- nuclear reactor
- nuclear response function
- nuclear rocket
- nuclear sclerosis
- nuclear sharing
- nuclear spectrum
- nuclear summer
- nuclear technology
- nuclear terrorism
- nuclear testing
- nuclear-thermal rocket
- nuclear-thermoelectric rocket
- nuclear transfer
- nuclear triad
- nuclear underground burst
- nuclear underwater burst
- nuclear vulnerability assessment
- nuclear war
- nuclear warfare
- nuclear waste
- nuclear weapon
- nuclear winter
- nuclear yield
- nuplex
- oligonuclear
- paranuclear
- pentanuclear
- perinuclear
- photonuclear
- piezonuclear
- polymorphonuclear
- polynuclear
- postnuclear
- prenuclear
- pronuclear
- pro-nuclear
- pycnonuclear
- radionuclear
- ribonuclear
- small nuclear ribonucleoprotein
- somatic cell nuclear transfer
- strong nuclear
- strong nuclear force
- strong nuclear interaction
- subnuclear
- supranuclear
- tetranuclear
- thermonuclear
- trinuclear
- uninuclear
- weak nuclear
- weak nuclear force
- weak nuclear interaction
Related terms
Translations
pertaining to the nucleus of a cell
|
pertaining to a centre; central, pivotal
|
pertaining to the atomic nucleus
|
involving nuclear energy
|
of a weapon: deriving its force from nuclear energy
|
Further reading
Noun
nuclear (countable and uncountable, plural nuclears)
- Nuclear power.
- 2015, Vital Signs Volume 22: The Trends That Are Shaping Our Future, The Worldwatch Institute:
- The growth in wind capacity at first lagged behind the expansion of nuclear installations, but then it started to grow faster and is now outpacing nuclear.
- Nuclear weapon
- 1958, Foreign Relations of the United States (page 118):
- Admiral Burke believed that we would be able to beat off an amphibious attack, even if staged in conjunction with heavy aerial bombing, long enough to refer back to Washington and obtain authorization to use nuclears.
Anagrams
Catalan
Pronunciation
Adjective
nuclear m or f (masculine and feminine plural nuclears)
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “nuclear” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “nuclear”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “nuclear” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “nuclear” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Galician
Pronunciation
Adjective
nuclear m or f (plural nucleares)
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “nuclear” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.
Occitan
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Adjective
nuclear m (feminine singular nucleara, masculine plural nuclears, feminine plural nuclearas)
Piedmontese
Pronunciation
Adjective
nuclear
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: nu‧cle‧ar
Adjective
nuclear m or f (plural nucleares)
- nuclear; central (to a centre around which something is developed or organised)
- (biology) nuclear (relating to the nucleus of cells)
- (physics) nuclear (relating to the nucleus of atoms)
- nuclear (involving atomic energy or weapons)
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French nucléaire. By surface analysis, nucleu + -ar.
Adjective
nuclear m or n (feminine singular nucleară, masculine plural nucleari, feminine and neuter plural nucleare)
Declension
Declension of nuclear
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
| nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | nuclear | nucleară | nucleari | nucleare | ||
| definite | nuclearul | nucleara | nuclearii | nuclearele | |||
| genitive/ dative |
indefinite | nuclear | nucleare | nucleari | nucleare | ||
| definite | nuclearului | nuclearei | nuclearilor | nuclearelor | |||
Spanish
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From nucleo + -ar, ultimately from Latin nuculeus.
Adjective
nuclear m or f (masculine and feminine plural nucleares)
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 2
Verb
nuclear (first-person singular present nucleo, first-person singular preterite nucleé, past participle nucleado)
Conjugation
Conjugation of nuclear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)
Selected combined forms of nuclear
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.
Derived terms
Further reading
- “nuclear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
- Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN