What does demagnetize mean?
Demagnetize is a verb meaning to remove magnetism from an object — to destroy or neutralize its magnetic properties so that it no longer attracts iron or steel. The term is most at home in physics and engineering: technicians routinely demagnetize tools before repairing electronic equipment, hospitals demagnetize surgical instruments, and the erasure of audio or video tape is essentially a demagnetizing operation, often carried out with a device called a degausser. The word is built from the privative prefix 'de-' plus 'magnetize', and traces back through 'magnet' to the Greek Magnēsia, the region associated with lodestone, the natural magnet known since antiquity. Beyond its literal use, demagnetize occasionally appears in figurative writing to suggest the loss of charm or persuasive power, as though a person's influence were itself a magnetic field. Precise and largely formal, it is indispensable wherever magnetic materials are handled.
verbTo remove the magnetic properties from an object, or to deprive something of its magnetism. It also figuratively describes neutralizing the influence or appeal of someone or something.
- To remove magnetism from an object (physics, engineering).
- Figuratively, to diminish someone's charisma, influence, or appeal.
"The technician demagnetized the screwdriver before working on the hard drive."
"Magnetic fields from speakers can gradually demagnetize a television screen, distorting its colors."
"Years of scandal had demagnetized the once-charismatic politician."
Your credit card stops working not because it's broken, but because it's been demagnetized — the same process used to erase old cassette tapes.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of demagnetize
Demagnetize combines the prefix 'de-' (indicating removal or reversal) with 'magnetize', which derives from 'magnet'. The noun 'magnet' comes from Latin magnes, itself borrowed from Greek Magnēs lithos, meaning 'stone of Magnesia' — a region of ancient Thessaly where naturally magnetized lodestone was found. The verb emerged in the nineteenth century alongside the growing science of electromagnetism, and shares its root with cognates such as magnetism, magnetic, and magnesia.
Related word forms
How demagnetize is actually used
Primarily technical and scientific in register; the figurative sense is rarer and often journalistic. In American English, 'degauss' is frequently preferred in electronics contexts.
Easily confused with demagnetize
Demythologize means to strip myth from an account, while demagnetize means to remove magnetism from an object.