nuclear
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 (English surface analysis, nucle(us) + -ar = nucle- + -ar). Compare muscle and Latin mūsculus; muscular and mūsculāris.
Pronunciation
- (Canada) IPA(key): /ˈn(j)u.kli.ɚ/
Audio (CA) (file) - (UK) IPA(key): /ˈnjuː.klɪə/
Audio (UK) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ˈn(j)u.kli.ɚ/, /ˈn(j)u.kjə.lɚ/ (see usage notes)
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ukliə(ɹ), -uːklɪə, -ukjələ(ɹ)
Adjective
nuclear (not comparable)
- Pertaining to the nucleus of an atom. [from 20th c.]
- Involving energy released by nuclear reactions (fission, fusion, radioactive decay). [from 20th c.]
- a nuclear reactor
- nuclear technology
- Relating to a weapon that derives its force from rapid release of energy through nuclear reactions. [from 20th c.]
- a nuclear explosion
- a nuclear power
- (by extension, metaphoric, 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. [from 19th c.]
- 2011, Terence Allen and 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. [from 19th c.]
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
- corticonuclear
- go nuclear
- nuclear age
- nuclear airburst
- nuclear aircraft
- nuclear artillery
- nuclear autumn
- nuclear cataract
- nuclear certifiable
- nuclear certified
- nuclear chain reaction
- nuclear chemistry
- nuclear cytoplasm
- nuclear electric rocket
- nuclear emulsion
- nuclear energy
- nuclear fallout
- nuclear family
- nuclear fission
- nuclear force
- nuclear-free
- nuclear fuel
- nuclear gene
- nuclear halo
- nuclear hardness
- nuclear hazard
- nuclear incident
- nuclear inclusion body
- nuclear intelligence
- nuclear isomer
- nuclear lamina
- nuclear magnetic moment
- nuclear magnetic resonance
- nuclear magneton
- nuclear material
- nuclear matrix
- nuclear membrane
- nuclear nation
- nuclear navy
- nuclear notation
- nuclear operator
- nuclear ophthalmoplegia
- nuclear option
- nuclear Overhauser effect
- nuclear parity
- nuclear photonic rocket
- nuclear physics
- nuclear poison
- nuclear power
- nuclear pulse propulsion
- nuclear quadropole resonance
- nuclear radiation
- nuclear reaction
- nuclear reactor
- nuclear sclerosis
- nuclear sharing
- nuclear summer
- nuclear technology
- nuclear terrorism
- nuclear testing
- nuclear transfer
- nuclear underground burst
- nuclear underwater burst
- nuclear vulnerability assessment
- nuclear war
- nuclear warfare
- nuclear waste
- nuclear weapon
- nuclear winter
- nuclear yield
- thermonuclear
Related terms
- nuclei
- nucleo-
- nucleus
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
Nuclear on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
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
- crenula, lucarne, unclear
Catalan
Pronunciation
- (Balearic, Central) IPA(key): /nu.kleˈa/
- (Valencian) IPA(key): /nu.kleˈaɾ/
Adjective
nuclear (masculine and feminine plural nuclears)
- nuclear
Derived terms
- interacció nuclear dèbil
- interacció nuclear feble
- interacció nuclear forta
- termonuclear
Related terms
- nucli
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, 2023
- “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
Adjective
nuclear m or f (plural nucleares)
- nuclear
Derived terms
- termonuclear
Related terms
- núcleo
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)
- nuclear
Piedmontese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nykleˈar/
Adjective
nuclear
- nuclear
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /nu.kleˈaʁ/ [nu.kleˈah], /nu.kliˈaʁ/ [nu.klɪˈah], (faster pronunciation) /nuˈkljaʁ/ [nuˈkljah]
- (São Paulo) IPA(key): /nu.kleˈaɾ/, /nu.kliˈaɾ/ [nu.klɪˈaɾ], (faster pronunciation) /nuˈkljaɾ/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /nu.kleˈaʁ/ [nu.kleˈaχ], /nu.kliˈaʁ/ [nu.klɪˈaχ], (faster pronunciation) /nuˈkljaʁ/ [nuˈkljaχ]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /nu.kleˈaɻ/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /nu.kliˈaɾ/, (faster pronunciation) /nuˈkljaɾ/
- 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
- termonuclear
Related terms
- núcleo
Further reading
- “nuclear” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.
Romanian
Etymology
From French nucléaire.
Adjective
nuclear m or n (feminine singular nucleară, masculine plural nucleari, feminine and neuter plural nucleare)
- nuclear
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
- IPA(key): /nukleˈaɾ/ [nu.kleˈaɾ]
- Rhymes: -aɾ
- Syllabification: nu‧cle‧ar
Etymology 1
nucleo + -ar, ultimately from Latin nuculeus.
Adjective
nuclear (plural nucleares)
- nuclear
Derived terms
- antinuclear
- arma nuclear
- central nuclear
- energía nuclear
- física nuclear
- fisión nuclear
- fusión nuclear
- guerra nuclear
- interacción nuclear débil
- invierno nuclear
- nuclearmente
- planta nuclear
- química nuclear
- reactor nuclear
- termonuclear
Related terms
- núcleo
Verb
nuclear (first-person singular present nucleo, first-person singular preterite nucleé, past participle nucleado)
- to join up; to unite
Conjugation
Conjugation of nuclear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)
| infinitive | nuclear | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gerund | nucleando | ||||||
| past participle | masculine | feminine | |||||
| singular | nucleado | nucleada | |||||
| plural | nucleados | nucleadas | |||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
| indicative | yo | tú vos | él/ella/ello usted | nosotros nosotras | vosotros vosotras | ellos/ellas ustedes | |
| present | nucleo | nucleastú nucleásvos | nuclea | nucleamos | nucleáis | nuclean | |
| imperfect | nucleaba | nucleabas | nucleaba | nucleábamos | nucleabais | nucleaban | |
| preterite | nucleé | nucleaste | nucleó | nucleamos | nucleasteis | nuclearon | |
| future | nuclearé | nuclearás | nucleará | nuclearemos | nuclearéis | nuclearán | |
| conditional | nuclearía | nuclearías | nuclearía | nuclearíamos | nuclearíais | nuclearían | |
| subjunctive | yo | tú vos | él/ella/ello usted | nosotros nosotras | vosotros vosotras | ellos/ellas ustedes | |
| present | nuclee | nucleestú nucleésvos2 | nuclee | nucleemos | nucleéis | nucleen | |
| imperfect (ra) | nucleara | nuclearas | nucleara | nucleáramos | nuclearais | nuclearan | |
| imperfect (se) | nuclease | nucleases | nuclease | nucleásemos | nucleaseis | nucleasen | |
| future1 | nucleare | nucleares | nucleare | nucleáremos | nucleareis | nuclearen | |
| imperative | — | tú vos | usted | nosotros nosotras | vosotros vosotras | ustedes | |
| affirmative | nucleatú nucleávos | nuclee | nucleemos | nuclead | nucleen | ||
| negative | no nuclees | no nuclee | no nucleemos | no nucleéis | no nucleen | ||
1Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
2Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.
Selected combined forms of nuclear
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
| with infinitive nuclear | |||||||
| dative | nuclearme | nuclearte | nuclearle, nuclearse | nuclearnos | nuclearos | nuclearles, nuclearse | |
| accusative | nuclearme | nuclearte | nuclearlo, nuclearla, nuclearse | nuclearnos | nuclearos | nuclearlos, nuclearlas, nuclearse | |
| with gerund nucleando | |||||||
| dative | nucleándome | nucleándote | nucleándole, nucleándose | nucleándonos | nucleándoos | nucleándoles, nucleándose | |
| accusative | nucleándome | nucleándote | nucleándolo, nucleándola, nucleándose | nucleándonos | nucleándoos | nucleándolos, nucleándolas, nucleándose | |
| with informal second-person singular tú imperative nuclea | |||||||
| dative | nucléame | nucléate | nucléale | nucléanos | not used | nucléales | |
| accusative | nucléame | nucléate | nucléalo, nucléala | nucléanos | not used | nucléalos, nucléalas | |
| with informal second-person singular vos imperative nucleá | |||||||
| dative | nucleame | nucleate | nucleale | nucleanos | not used | nucleales | |
| accusative | nucleame | nucleate | nuclealo, nucleala | nucleanos | not used | nuclealos, nuclealas | |
| with formal second-person singular imperative nuclee | |||||||
| dative | nucléeme | not used | nucléele, nucléese | nucléenos | not used | nucléeles | |
| accusative | nucléeme | not used | nucléelo, nucléela, nucléese | nucléenos | not used | nucléelos, nucléelas | |
| with first-person plural imperative nucleemos | |||||||
| dative | not used | nucleémoste | nucleémosle | nucleémonos | nucleémoos | nucleémosles | |
| accusative | not used | nucleémoste | nucleémoslo, nucleémosla | nucleémonos | nucleémoos | nucleémoslos, nucleémoslas | |
| with informal second-person plural imperative nuclead | |||||||
| dative | nucleadme | not used | nucleadle | nucleadnos | nucleaos | nucleadles | |
| accusative | nucleadme | not used | nucleadlo, nucleadla | nucleadnos | nucleaos | nucleadlos, nucleadlas | |
| with formal second-person plural imperative nucleen | |||||||
| dative | nucléenme | not used | nucléenle | nucléennos | not used | nucléenles, nucléense | |
| accusative | nucléenme | not used | nucléenlo, nucléenla | nucléennos | not used | nucléenlos, nucléenlas, nucléense | |
Derived terms
- nucleamiento
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
Anagrams
- Lucerna