disassemblyn.
/ˌdɪsəˈsɛmbli/, U.S. /ˌdɪsəˈsɛmbli/ The action or process of taking something apart or of coming apart; (also) an instance of this. Cf. disassemblage n.Earliest in attributive use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > [noun] > taking apart
unknittingc1384
unstriking1567
jointing1591
disassembly1894
disassemblage1899
strip-down1950
1894 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 21 Nov. The naval small arms board continued its work with the Luger gun this morning. The disassembly and assembly test was the first in order.
1911 Motor Age 3 Aug. 23/1 Drivers often will endeavor to disassemble a plug to clean it when disassembly is really unnecessary.
1954 New Biol. 16 36 The assembly and disassembly of protein molecules in tissue fluids has been shown..to be continually taking place.
1976 B. Gaddis How to repair Home Laundry Appliances i. 43 When a complete disassembly of a washer is necessary you will find a spin-basket support..very useful.
2013 Washington Post (Nexis) 11 Oct. t38 If the 2008 documentary ‘Herb and Dorothy’ looked at the creation of one of the world's great art collections..‘Herb and Dorothy 50x50’ is the story of its disassembly.
Compounds
disassembly line n. a systemized sequence of automated or manual operations used to facilitate a disassembly process, as of cars for parts, animal carcasses for meat, etc.; cf. assembly line n. at assembly n. Compounds 1b.
ΚΠ
1920 Marmon News (Indianapolis) Apr. 4/3 As the last man in the disassembly line completes his work, the rack is pushed into a glass-enclosed room for a thorough cleaning.
1990 Times (Nexis) 13 July 31/2 West Germany, where the three leading manufacturers are investing in ‘disassembly lines’ to recycle old cars.
2006 V. Smil Transforming 20th Cent. iv. 175 Chicago's famous Union stockyards fine-tuned these disassembly lines to process 14 million animals a year.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1894