nuclearityn.
/ˌnjuːklɪˈarᵻti/, U.S. /ˌn(j)ukliˈɛrədi/ 1.
a. Mathematics. A property of a point or collection of points in a topological space, variously defined according to context but generally indicating an inability to isolate the point or points from the surrounding space. Now perhaps disused.
ΚΠ
1929 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 31 308 Q is not a neighborhood of the element q. The function K(E) is obviously not monotonic. This example may be extended to include the case of nuclearity of any order.
1933 Amer. Jrnl. Math. 55 422 (note) Our definition of nuclearity of a set is different from that of ‘Topology’. A set A is nuclear in a set H if there is a point q of H such that every neighborhood of q contains /A/ points of A.
b. Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology. Importance or centrality of a particular region with respect to cultural development (cf. nuclear adj. 2a).
ΚΠ
1958 Science 20 June 1420/3 It also appears that the zone of the natural habitat may have been a focus of ‘nuclearity’, and that some eras and phases of cultural development may have been manifested there but not elsewhere.
1967 Science 27 Oct. 445/3 Why had these five regions attained early nuclearity and retained it throughout the sequence?
1983 World Archaeol. 15 1 Lumbreras lists the defining features of the South–Central area as pervasive aridity, vertical zonation.., southern tricolor pottery, and the primacy or ‘nuclearity’ of the circum-Titicaca altiplano.
c. Sociology. The fact or condition of being a nuclear family; the degree of nuclearization of families.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinship group > family > [noun] > basic family unit
nuclear family1924
nuclearity1959
1959 Biennial Rev. Anthropol. 1 43 Ghurye makes a sequential reconstruction of kinship changes.., suggesting that the early Anglo-Saxon family was nuclear in type. This contrasts with the sociologists['] claim that nuclearity is due to the Industrial Revolution.
1976 Demography 13 136/2 The continuing decline in household size..is a result of a general redefinition of the family toward invariable and perhaps uncompromising nuclearity.
2001 N.Y. Times 17 June ix. 2/3 These are households where the husband and wife maintain a desperate illusion of nuclearity out of fear of social repercussions.
2.
a. Chemistry. In complexes containing clusters of atoms: the property of having a (specified) number of nuclei (cf. polynuclear adj. 2).
ΚΠ
1976 Adv. Organometallic Chem. 14 286 The hexanuclear dianion [Co6(CO)15]2− was the first anionic high nuclearity cluster to be isolated.
1990 Limnol. & Oceanogr. 35 659/1 The OP colloids have a hydrodynamic diameter of 2–3 nm.., and their nuclearity is ∼50 iron atoms per colloid.
1996 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93 15041/1 The ferredoxins and related iron sulfur proteins differ from heme proteins in that they display a multitude of cluster nuclearities and coordination geometries.
b. Biology and Medicine. The property of having cell nuclei (rare); state or condition with respect to the number of nuclei present per cell. Cf. earlier multinuclearity n.
ΚΠ
1978 Thorax 33 638 The loss in nuclearity in the histological sections of stored tissue was partially responsible for the observed decrease in viability during storage.
1987 Carcinogenesis 8 391 The parameters of ploidy, nuclearity and DNA synthesis were examined.
1994 Cancer 74 1713 The DNA ploidy of the main stem line and the distribution of mononucleated and binucleated hepatocytes (nuclearity) were compared.
2001 Jrnl. Struct. Biol. 134 67 The hepatocytes had one or two of these structures corresponding with nuclearity of the cells.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1929