-ize


  1. a verb-forming suffix occurring originally in loanwords from Greek that have entered English through Latin or French (baptize; barbarize; catechize); within English, -ize is added to adjectives and nouns to form transitive verbs with the general senses “to render, make” (actualize; fossilize; sterilize; Americanize), “to convert into, give a specified character or form to” (computerize; dramatize; itemize; motorize), “to subject to (as a process, sometimes named after its originator)” (hospitalize; terrorize; galvanize; oxidize; simonize; winterize). Also formed with -ize are a more heterogeneous group of verbs, usually intransitive, denoting a change of state (crystallize), kinds or instances of behavior (apologize; moralize; tyrannize), or activities (economize; philosophize; theorize).

Origin of -ize

1
From Late Latin -izāre, from Greek -izein; replacing Middle English -isen, from Old French -iser, from Late Latin, as above
  • Also especially British, -ise1.

usage note For -ize

The suffix -ize has been in common use since the late 16th century; it is one of the most productive suffixes in the language, and scores of words ending in -ize are in daily use.
Some words ending in -ize have been widely disapproved in recent years, particularly finalize (first attested in the early 1920s) and prioritize (around 1970). Such words are most often criticized when they become, as did these two, vogue terms, suddenly heard and seen everywhere, especially in the context of advertising, commerce, education, or government—forces claimed by some to have a corrupting influence upon the language. The criticism has fairly effectively suppressed the use of finalize and prioritize in belletristic writing, but the words are fully standard and occur regularly in all varieties of speech and writing, especially the more formal types.
The British spelling, -ise, is becoming less common in British English, especially in technical or formal writing, chiefly because some influential British publishers advocate or have adopted the American form -ize.

Words Nearby -ize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use -ize in a sentence

  • Resolved, as your discriminating good sense perceives, that if you was to have a sap—pur—ize, it should be a complete one!

    Our Mutual Friend | Charles Dickens
  • Ize rascelled wid de Almighty 'till my hips was sore, but Ize nebber got it.

    The Twin Hells | John N. Reynolds
  • No one can defalcate in this particular; no one can Texas-ize and be quit of his transgressions and his onward travel.

British Dictionary definitions for -ize

-ize

suffix forming verbs
  1. to cause to become, resemble, or agree with: legalize

  2. to become; change into: crystallize

  1. to affect in a specified way; subject to: hypnotize

  2. to act according to some practice, principle, policy, etc: economize

Origin of -ize

1
from Old French -iser, from Late Latin -izāre, from Greek -izein

usage For -ize

In Britain and the US -ize is the preferred ending for many verbs, but -ise is equally acceptable in British English. Certain words (chiefly those not formed by adding the suffix to an existing word) are, however, always spelt with -ise in both Britain and the US: advertise, revise

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012