- enucleation (n.)
- 1640s, from verb enucleate (1540s), from Latin enucleatus "pure, clean," past participle of enucleare "to lay open, explain in detail," literally "to remove the kernel of" (see ex- + nucleus). Mostly figurative in Latin (the notion is of getting at the "core" of some matter); until mid-19c. advances in science and medicine, usually figurative in English.