To take something apart piece by piece, or to gradually destroy or eliminate a system.
From French 'démanteler,' from 'de-' (remove) plus 'manteler' (to cloak). The military meaning originally referred to removing protective coverings (mantles) from fortifications.
Dismantle started as a military term about removing protective cloaks from fortresses—it's a literal image that became metaphorical for systematically destroying any system, showing how war vocabulary bleeds into peaceful contexts.
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