demassifyv.
/(ˌ)diːˈmasᵻfʌɪ/, U.S. /ˌdiˈmæsəˌfaɪ/ transitive. To divide or break up (a social, cultural, or political unit) into component parts; to make individualized or fragmentary. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separate, come, or go apart [verb (intransitive)] > become disjoined or disconnected > specifically of a connection, union, etc.
depart1377
demassify1970
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separate [verb (transitive)] > disjoin, disunite, or disconnect > things or persons united by something immaterial
severa1382
atomize1895
demassify1970
1970 A. Toffler Future Shock xii. 250 Mass communication, under a system like this, is ‘de-massified’. We move from homogeneity to heterogeneity.
1986 D. Howell Blind Victory xv. 134 Micro-computing power..de-massifies.
1990 Harvard Business Rev. Mar. 241/1 Computerized forces of production ‘demassify’ organizations.
1996 L. D. Solomon Rethinking our Centralized Monetary Syst. iii. 27 The twenty-first and twenty-second centuries, with their attendant pressures to decentralize and demassify the political process, may resemble the political struggles in the early years of the Republic.
Derivatives
deˈmassified adj.
ΚΠ
1979 N.Y. Times 20 Nov. b11/6 Mr. Toffler foresaw a ‘demassified third wave’ civilization, opposed to the present ‘second wave industrialized’ society.
1991 Details Apr. 38/3 The world's going from a mass society to a demassified one.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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v.1970