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defuse

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Etymology and origin of the English word defuse

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1943 Word Study More words from the 20th century
Ultimate origin
Latin fūsus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Italian fuso
English fuse
English defuse

Pronunciation

  • /diːˈfjuːz/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English de- + fuse,[2][3][4][5][6] with de- in the sense of removal and the noun fuse, the device that sets off an explosive.[2][5] That noun is from Italian fuso (“spindle”), from Latin fūsus (“spindle”), named after the long, thin tubes of gunpowder first used as fuses.[3][2] The variant defuze follows fuze, a variant spelling of the noun.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To remove the fuse from an explosive device: 1943, in the magazine Word Study.[2][4][3] Dictionary.com dates it to 1940–45.[6]

Semantic evolution

The word arose in the Second World War for making bombs and mines safe.[2][3] The figurative sense, to take the tension or danger out of a crisis or conflict, is recorded by 1966.[3][5] The current OED treats it as an extension of the same sense.[2]

Timeline

  • 1943 – to remove the fuse from a bomb or mine.[2][4][3]
  • 1966 – to reduce the tension or danger in a situation.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To remove the fuse from (a bomb or mine) so that it cannot explode.[8][9][4][2]
  2. To make (a situation) less tense, dangerous or hostile: The manager's joke defused the argument.[8][9][4][5]

Word family

  • defuser

Usage notes

Collins warns against confusing it with diffuse, to spread out,[8] and Dictionary.com lists the two as easily confused.[6] Chambers records an unrelated defuse in Shakespeare, meaning "to disorder", which is a form of diffuse.[7]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
  8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Cite this entry

“Defuse.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/defuse. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·