Dictionary

unionize en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈjuːnjənaɪz/

Etymology

Etymology tree English union Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English unionize From union + -ize.

Meanings

1. (ambitransitive) To organize workers into a trade union.
   • She attended a teach-in to learn how to unionize her workplace.
   • The company laid off all the workers when they tried to unionize.
   • Even if workers succeed at unionizing, the law offers few tools for forcing employers to negotiate a contract. 2023 June 12, David Leonhardt and Noam Scheiber, “Labor’s Very Good Year”, in The New York Times:
   • My uncle got roughed up by some corporate thugs after they caught him trying to unionize their workers.

Forms

Deriveds

deunionize · unionisation · unionized · unionised · unionization · unionizer

Relateds

trade-unionise · trade-unionize

Synonyms

trade-unionize

Translations (6)

pt sindicalizar (To organize workers into a union) · bg обединявам се в синдикат (To organize workers into a union) · es sindicar (To organize workers into a union) · sv gå med i facket (To organize workers into a union) · he הִתְאַגֵּד (To organize workers into a union) · fr syndiquer (To organize workers into a union)

unionize en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ʌnˈaɪənaɪz/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂éntsder. Proto-Germanic *anda- Proto-West Germanic *anda- Old English and- Old English on- Middle English on- English un- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- Proto-Indo-European *h₁éyti Proto-Hellenic *éimi Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión)der. English ion Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English ionize English unionize From un- + ionize.

Meanings

1. (physical, rare, transitive) Synonym of deionize. ▸ To cause (an ionized substance) to return to a neutral state; to convert (an ion) into a neutral atom or molecule.
   • For the experiments designed to study the effect of pH, aqueous solutions of NaOH were used. Approximately 3 mL of the aqueous phase was drawn out for sampling and a portion of this was used to determine the pH[…]. The other portion was analyzed after addition of HCl solution to bring the pH below 3.0 (to unionize the dissociated vinyl acids). 2013 July 24, Amit K. Tripathi, Donald C. Sundberg, “Partitioning of Functional Monomers in Emulsion Polymerization: Distribution of Carboxylic Acid Monomers between Water and Multimonomer Systems”, in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, volume 52, number 29, →DOI, page 9764:
2. (intransitive, physical, rare) Synonym of deionize. ▸ Of an ionized substance, to return to a neutral state.
   • The water absorbency of the anionically starch-grafted AA/AM absorbent is markedly affected by the pH of the buffer solution at different ionic strengths. The charge of the ionic monomer affects the pH sensitivity of the superabsorbent polymers. An acidic superabsorbent normally ionizes at high pH but unionizes at low pH. 2000 October 1, Suda Kiatkamjornwong, Wararuk Chomsaksakul, Manit Sonsuk, “Radiation modification of water absorption of cassava starch by acrylic acid/acrylamide”, in Radiation Physics and Chemistry, volume 59, number 4, →DOI, page 423:

Forms

Deriveds

unionisation · unionized · unionised · unionization