nuclear

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.

• (Canada) enPR: n(y)o͞okliər, IPA^(key): /ˈn(j)u.kli.ɚ/

  • Audio (Canada):

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• (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)

nuclear (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to the nucleus of an atom. [from 20th c.]
2. Involving energy released by nuclear reactions (fission, fusion, radioactive decay). [from 20th c.]

   a nuclear reactor

   nuclear technology

3. 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

4. (by extension, figurative, of a solution or response) Involving an extreme course of action, or one with severe consequences.

   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 February 3, Elle Hunt, “When is it appropriate to reply all? Mostly never”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     We’ve now had 20 years of cautionary tales about replyallpocalypses. For the sake of workplace harmony: keep your pointer off the nuclear button.

   • 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.

5. (biology) Pertaining to the nucleus of a cell. [from 19th c.]
   • 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.

6. (archaic) Pertaining to a centre around which something is developed or organised; central, pivotal. [from 19th c.]

   Nuclear Polynesian languages include Hawaiian and Samoan.

7. Relating to, being of, or comprising the nuclear family.
   • 1986 December 7, Michael Bronsky, “Gay Man's Dream Realized in Benefit Production of archy and mehitabel"”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 21, page 7:

     Somehow it is much easier to convey the emotions of gayness — the feelings of outsideness —through anthropomorphism. Gay poet and limerist Edward lear uses animals and creatures perfectly this way […] Even the Muppets — as mainstream and heterosexual as some of them may be — are favorites among many gay men […] Look at Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows, such a silly, pompous queen, and even Randall Jarrell's The Animal Family has a lot to say about non-human and non-nuclear arrangements.

• 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.

•   Nuclear on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

nuclear (countable and uncountable, plural nuclears)

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.

2. 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.

• crenula, lucarne, unclear

• IPA^(key): (Central) [nu.kleˈar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [nu.kleˈa]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [nu.kleˈaɾ]

nuclear m or f (masculine and feminine plural nuclears)

1. nuclear

• nucli

• “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.

• IPA^(key): /nukleˈaɾ/ [nu.kleˈaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: nu‧cle‧ar

nuclear m or f (plural nucleares)

1. nuclear

• termonuclear

• núcleo

• “nuclear”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024

• Audio:

  (file)

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

nuclear m (feminine singular nucleara, masculine plural nuclears, feminine plural nuclearas)

1. nuclear

• IPA^(key): /nykleˈar/

nuclear

1. nuclear

• Hyphenation: nu‧cle‧ar

nuclear m or f (plural nucleares)

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)

• termonuclear

• núcleo

• “nuclear”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Borrowed from French nucléaire. By surface analysis, nucleu +‎ -ar.

nuclear m or n (feminine singular nucleară, masculine plural nucleari, feminine and neuter plural nucleare)

1. nuclear

• IPA^(key): /nukleˈaɾ/ [nu.kleˈaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: nu‧cle‧ar

From nucleo +‎ -ar, ultimately from Latin nuculeus.

nuclear m or f (masculine and feminine plural nucleares)

1. nuclear

nuclear (first-person singular present nucleo, first-person singular preterite nucleé, past participle nucleado)

1. to join up; to unite

• “nuclear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28
• Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN

• Lucerna