weaponization en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˌwɛpənəˈzeɪ̯.ʃɪn/
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *wēpną Proto-West Germanic *wāpn Old English wēpn Middle English wepen English weapon 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 Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ationbor. Middle English -acioun English -ation English -ization English weaponization From weapon + -ization.
Meanings
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(uncountable) American and Oxford British English standard spelling of weaponisation.
[I]f you’re against the weaponization of the Justice Department because you think it was weaponized against you, then you don’t make the situation worse by weaponizing it against your opponents.
2025 January 27, Cameron Joseph, “John Bolton says he’s faced Trump’s retribution. He worries what Kash Patel might do.”, in The Christian Science Monitor, spoken by John Bolton, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2025:A new House panel investigating the "weaponization of the federal government" held its first hearing on Thursday [...]
2023 February 9, Lexie Schapitl, Claudia Grisales, “House panel on 'weaponization' of the government's first hearing takes aim at DOJ, FBI”, in NPR, archived from the original on 23 Aug 2023: