different between sterilize vs unsex

English

Alternative forms

• sterilise (UK)

Etymology

sterile +? -ize

Verb

sterilize (third-person singular simple present sterilizes, present participle sterilizing, simple past and past participle sterilized)

1. (transitive) To deprive of the ability to procreate.
2. (transitive) To make unable to produce; to make unprofitable.
3. (transitive, biology) To kill, deactivate (denature), or destroy (break apart) all living, viable microorganisms and spores on a surface, in a fluid, or contained in a compound, such as culture media or a medical product.
4. (transitive) To redact (a document), removing classified or sensitive material.
   • 1974, Miles Copeland, Without cloak or dagger: the truth about the new espionage (page 141)

     […] (minus, of course, any information that might identify the agent and other operational personnel), or he might code it or "sterilize" it, and reward the foreign station chief in some other way.

   • 2014, Evanthis Hatzivassiliou, NATO and Western Perceptions of the Soviet Bloc (page 2)

     The same phenomenon is also detectable in the records of the meetings of NATO committees: the priority of avoiding any manifestation of internal disagreements led to the production of 'sterilized' records of discussions which evidently were significantly more lively than shown in the official papers.

Related terms

• sterile
• sterilization

Translations

See also

• birth control
• castrate
• castrato
• eunuch
• procreate
• procreation
• spay

References

• sterilize in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Further reading

• Wikipedia article on sterilization

Anagrams

• Listerize

English

Etymology

un- +? sex

Verb

unsex (third-person singular simple present unsexes, present participle unsexing, simple past and past participle unsexed)

1. To deprive of sexual attributes or characteristics.
   • 1603-06, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I, Scene V:

     Lady Macbeth: "Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe full / Of direst cruelty:"

   • 1859, George Meredith, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, Chapter 1:

     The Amazon cut off a breat to battle: How will not Woman disfigure and unsex herself to gain her end?
2. To sterilize (deprive of the ability to procreate); to castrate.

Anagrams

• UN*Xes, nexus, nexûs, nex?s