Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Being a member of or formed into a labor union: Describes workers who have joined together in a labor union to collectively bargain with their employer, or a workplace where this is the case.
   • Not converted into ions: (Chemistry) Describes a substance, atom, or molecule that is electrically neutral because it has not gained or lost electrons to form ions.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Labor):
  • The unionized employees voted to authorize a strike.
  • It is harder for management to change policies in a unionized factory.
• Adjective (Chemistry):
  • In its pure, unionized form, the acid is less soluble in water.
  • The medication is more readily absorbed in its unionized state.

Advanced Usage

• The term often appears in discussions about labor rights, workplace organization, and industrial relations.
• In chemistry, the state of being unionized versus ionized is crucial for understanding properties like solubility, reactivity, and absorption across membranes.

Variants and Related Words

• Unionize (verb): To form or cause to form into a labor union.
  • The workers sought to unionize the plant.
• Unionization (noun): The process of forming or becoming a union.
  • The unionization of the service sector has increased.
• Non-unionized (adjective): Not formed into or belonging to a labor union.
  • He took a job at a non-unionized workshop.
• Ionized (adjective): (Chemistry) The opposite state; converted into ions.
  • Ionized particles are affected by magnetic fields.

Synonyms

• Organized (in the labor context):
• Nonionic (in the chemistry context, as a technical synonym):

Notes on Different Meanings

• This is a clear case of a homograph: two words spelled identically but with completely different and unrelated meanings. The intended meaning is determined entirely by context.
• The labor-related meaning is derived from "union" (labor organization).
• The chemistry-related meaning is derived from the prefix "un-" (meaning "not") + "ionized."

Adjective

1. being a member of or formed into a labor union
   • organized labor
   • unionized workers
   • a unionized shop
2. not converted into ions