nuclear

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. Compare muscle and Latin mūsculus; muscular and mūsculāris.

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈn(j)ukliɚ/

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈnjuː.klɪə/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈn(j)ukliɚ/, /ˈn(j)ukjəlɚ/ (see usage notes)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

nuclear (not comparable)

1. (biology) Pertaining to the nucleus of a cell. [from 19th c.]
   • 2011, Terence Allen and Graham Cowling, The Cell: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford 2011, p. 17:

     However, the DNA in a bacterial cell is a single circular molecule and there is no separate nuclear compartment.

2. Pertaining to a centre around which something is developed or organised; central, pivotal. [from 19th c.]
3. Pertaining to the atomic nucleus. [from 20th c.]
4. Involving energy released by nuclear reactions (fission, fusion, radioactive decay). [from 20th c.]

   a nuclear reactor

   nuclear technology

5. Of a weapon: deriving its force from rapid release of energy through nuclear reactions. [from 20th c.]

   a nuclear explosion

6. (by extension, metaphoric, of a solution or response) Involving the destruction of something.
   • 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.

Noun

nuclear (uncountable)

1. 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.

Anagrams

• crenula, lucarne, unclear

Adjective

nuclear (masculine and feminine plural nuclears)

1. nuclear

Adjective

nuclear m, f (plural nucleares, comparable)

1. nuclear; central (to a centre around which something is developed or organised)
2. (biology) nuclear (relating to the nucleus of cells)
3. (physics) nuclear (relating to the nucleus of atoms)
4. nuclear (involving atomic energy or weapons)

Etymology 1

Etymology 2