cleave

fusion

noun

the process or result of joining two or more things together to form a single entity.

• Physics short for nuclear fusion .

• the process of causing a material or object to melt with intense heat, esp. so as to join with another.

• music that is a mixture of different styles, esp. jazz and rock.

ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from Latin fusio(n-), from fundere 'pour, melt.'

nuclear fusion

noun

a nuclear reaction in which atomic nuclei of low atomic number fuse to form a heavier nucleus with the release of energy.

fission

noun

the action of dividing or splitting something into two or more parts.

• short for nuclear fission .

• Biology reproduction by means of a cell or organism dividing into two or more new cells or organisms.

verb [ intrans. ]

(chiefly of atoms) undergo fission.

ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Latin fissio(n-), from findere 'to split.'

nuclear fission

noun

a nuclear reaction in which a heavy nucleus splits spontaneously or on impact with another particle, with the release of energy.

mate

ORIGIN late Middle English : from Middle Low German māt(e) 'comrade,' of West Germanic origin; related to meat (the underlying notion being that of eating together).

copulate

ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense [join] ): from Latin copulat- 'fastened together,' from the verb copulare, from copula (see copula ).

coition

noun

another term for coitus .

ORIGIN mid 16th cent.(in the sense [meeting or uniting] ): from Latin coitio(n-), from the verb coire, from co- 'together' + ire 'go.'

intimate

ORIGIN early 17th cent.(as a noun): from late Latin intimatus, past participle of Latin intimare 'impress, make familiar,' from intimus 'inmost.'

divorce

ORIGIN late Middle English : the noun from Old French divorce, from Latin divortium, based on divertere (see divert ); the verb from Old French divorcer, from late Latin divortiare, from divortium.

divert

ORIGIN late Middle English : via French from Latin divertere, from di- 'aside' + vertere 'to turn.'

divide

ORIGIN Middle English (as a verb): from Latin dividere 'force apart, remove.' The noun dates from the mid 17th cent.

explode

ORIGIN mid 16th cent.(in the sense [reject scornfully, discard] ): from Latin explodere 'drive out by clapping, hiss off the stage,' from ex- 'out' + plaudere 'to clap.' Sense 2 is derived from the original sense of the word. Sense 1 (late 18th cent.) evolved via an old sense [expel with violence and sudden noise,] perhaps influenced by obsolete displode [burst with a noise.]

nuclear family

noun

a couple and their dependent children, regarded as a basic social unit.

atom

noun

the basic unit of a chemical element.

ORIGIN late 15th cent.: from Old French atome, via Latin from Greek atomos 'indivisible,' based on a- 'not' + temnein 'to cut.'