fusion

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈfjuː.ʒən/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French fusion or directly borrowed from Latin fūsiō (“an outpouring, effusion”), fūsiōnem,^[2][3][4] from fūsus, past participle of fundere, to pour, melt (see found, to cast metal),^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *gheu-, to pour.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Melting by intense heat: 1555, the 1550s in Etymonline.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

A fused mass is from 1823.^[6] The union or blending together of different things is by 1776,^[2][6] used especially in the 19th century of political coalitions (1845),^[2][6] and in the early 20th century in psychology (1892) and of atoms and jazz.^[2][6] Nuclear fusion, the forming of a heavier nucleus from lighter ones with release of energy, is from 1947.^[6] Jazz-rock, and cooking that blends cuisines, are later uses.^[7]

Timeline

• 1555 – melting.^[6]
• 1776 – a blending together.^[6]
• 1845 – a political coalition.^[6]
• 1947 – nuclear fusion.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The process of melting by heat, or the melted state.
2. The merging of different things into a whole.
3. (physics) A nuclear reaction in which light nuclei combine to form heavier ones, releasing energy.
4. A style of music blending jazz and rock, or of cooking combining different cuisines.

Word family

• fusional
• defusion
• fusionism
• fusionist
• nonfusion
• cold fusion
• fusion bomb
• fusion reactor

Related words

• fuse
• fusible
• found
• confuse
• transfusion
• diffusion

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin