unionize

English

Etymology 1

From union +‎ -ize.

Alternative forms

unionise

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈjuːnjənaɪz/

Verb

unionize (third-person singular simple present unionizes, present participle unionizing, simple past and past participle unionized)

(transitive, intransitive) To organize workers into a union.
The company laid off all the workers when they tried to unionize.

My uncle got roughed up by some corporate thugs after they caught him trying to unionize their workers.

She attended a teach-in to learn how to unionize her workplace.
- 2023 December 6, David Leonhardt and Noam Scheiber, “Labor’s Very Good Year”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:
  Even if workers succeed at unionizing, the law offers few tools for forcing employers to negotiate a contract.

Translations

To organize workers into a union

French: syndiquer (fr)
Hebrew: הִתְאַגֵּד (hit'agéd)
Portuguese: sindicalizar (pt)
Spanish: sindicar (es)
Swedish: gå med i facket

Etymology 2

From un- +‎ ionize.

Alternative forms

un-ionize, unionise, un-ionise

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʌnˈaɪənaɪz/

Verb

unionize (third-person singular simple present unionizes, present participle unionizing, simple past and past participle unionized)

(physical chemistry, rare) Synonym of deionize.
1. (transitive) To cause (an ionized substance) to return to a neutral state; to convert (an ion) into a neutral atom or molecule.
  - 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:
    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).
2. (intransitive) Of an ionized substance, to return to a neutral state.
  - 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:
    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.

Derived terms