What does delaminate mean?
Delaminate is a technical verb meaning to split or separate into layers. It is especially used of laminated panels, composites, coatings, bonded films, and other multilayer materials when the adhesive, resin, or other bonding medium fails. A surface may begin to delaminate, peel away, or form bubbles and cracks as the layers separate. The term can be used transitively, as in “the coating delaminated the surface,” though it is often used intransitively to describe the material itself. Delaminate is most common in engineering, manufacturing, construction, automotive, and aerospace contexts, and it usually carries an implication of damage or failure rather than intentional separation. Its antonym, laminate, describes the process of joining or covering material with layers. The word is related to laminate and delamination, both of which belong to the same vocabulary derived from the Latin word lamina, meaning a thin sheet or layer.
verbTo split or separate into layers, especially when a bonded, laminated, or composite material loses the adhesion holding its layers together.
- To split or separate into layers, especially because the adhesive or bonding between layers has failed.
"The composite began to delaminate when moisture weakened the adhesive bond."
"The composite began to delaminate when moisture weakened the adhesive bond."
"If the laminate delaminates, the layers can be separated and repaired."
Delaminate names the dramatic moment when a unified material reveals that it was really a stack of layers waiting to come apart.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does delaminate come from?
Delaminate belongs to a family of English words based on Latin lamina, meaning “a thin sheet, plate, or layer.” The related word laminate refers to a material made or covered with layers, while the prefix de- in delaminate indicates the removal or undoing of that layered arrangement. English forms in this family include laminate, lamination, delaminate, and delamination. The related words lamella and lamellate also reflect the same Latin root through its diminutive form.
Related word forms
How delaminate is actually used
This is primarily a technical term used in materials science, engineering, manufacturing, and repair contexts. It is more common in specialist writing than in everyday speech and usually describes a failure or separation that may be undesirable.
Easily confused with delaminate
To laminate is to bond or cover material with layers, whereas to delaminate is for those layers to split or separate.