materialize

American  

[muh-teer-ee-uh-lahyz] / məˈtɪər i əˌlaɪz /

especially British, materialise

verb (used without object)

materialized, materializing

1. to come into perceptible existence; appear; become actual or real; be realized or carried out.

   Our plans never materialized.

   Synonyms:

   issue , rise , show , emerge

2. to assume material or bodily form; become corporeal.

   The ghost materialized before Hamlet.

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verb (used with object)

materialized, materializing

1. to give material form to; realize.

   This year, she materialized her long-held ambition to go to law school.

2. to invest with material attributes.

   The writer materializes the more abstract ideas with metaphors, making the concepts easier to grasp.

3. to make physically perceptible; cause (a spirit or the like) to appear in bodily form.

4. to render materialistic.

materialize British  

/ məˈtɪərɪəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. (intr) to become fact; actually happen

   our hopes never materialized

2. to invest or become invested with a physical shape or form

3. to cause (a spirit, as of a dead person) to appear in material form or (of a spirit) to appear in such form

4. (intr) to take shape; become tangible

   after hours of discussion, the project finally began to materialize

5. physics to form (material particles) from energy, as in pair production

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Other Word Forms

• materialization noun
• materializer noun
• rematerialize verb
• unmaterialized adjective

Etymology

Origin of materialize

First recorded in 1700–10; material + -ize

Example Sentences

The comeback truly began to materialize last month in Las Vegas when both McLarens were disqualified for a technical infringement, leaving Verstappen to close the gap by 25 points with his Sin City victory.

From The Wall Street Journal

And though nods in the big three mainstream categories didn’t materialize, that wasn’t a total surprise for an LP so meticulous about playing with classic Latin genres.

From Los Angeles Times

AI adoption is currently minimal, with only about 10% of businesses using it in September, and substantial economic benefits may take years to materialize.

From Barron's

And demand failed to materialize, despite Tesla’s list of reservations for a vehicle meant to evoke the DeLorean made famous by “Back to the Future.”

From MarketWatch

But in the rest of the economy, new capital and the job creation that would accompany it haven’t materialized.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• appear
• emerge
• happen
• occur
• realize
• take place
• turn up
• unfold