English
neutralize
Neutralize comes from French neutraliser ‘to neutralise’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentneutraliser‘to neutralise’
- Englishearliest quotation 1965neutralize
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentneutraliser‘to neutralise’
- Englishearliest quotation 1965neutralize
Earliest quotation: 1965, United States. Congress. Senate, Hearings: “All the powers involved are committed not only to…”
Equivalent to neutral + -ize
Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- ‘the primary interrogative root’
…
Latin uter ‘which, who (of two)?’
Latin neuter ‘neither’
Latin neutrālis
Middle French neutral
English neutral
first attested first attested in 1642 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
From French neutraliser (first attested in 1642).
Every English word from French neutraliser
Today it means
verb To make (something) even, inactive or ineffective.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French neutraliser / neutralize