verb
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To convert data or signals, such as images, text, or sound, to digital form.
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See more at A/D converter
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of digitize
Explanation
When you digitize something, you adapt it into a form that can be read by a computer. Publishers digitize books so they can be read on e-readers, tablets, and smartphones. You can digitize your parents' old photographs by scanning them and then uploading them. And since record companies started to digitize music, that's increasingly how people listen to it — while you may enjoy playing records on an old turntable, you probably listen to new music using an app on your phone or computer. Since 1953, this verb has been used to mean "convert into a sequence of digits," specifically digits a computer can read.
Vocabulary lists containing digitize
Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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Computer Science and Technology - Middle School
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Computer Science and Technology - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Specs can digitize a chess board, provide AR-guided training for shooting basketballs and even highlight the coolant reservoir under the hood of a car, according to videos and photos online.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
Its customers see a return on investment of more than 800% from its products, which help digitize physical infrastructure.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
Last year, the company signed an agreement with Congo to digitize the geological records at the Belgian museum and make them public, and to help drive investment—including its own—in Congo’s minerals sector.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
In recent months, “ET” has undertaken a massive project to digitize and preserve all 11,600-plus episodes made since its founding host Mary Hart first signed on when Ronald Reagan was in the White House.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
Their film collection was gone, save a few pieces that Molly had managed to digitize.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
In an AI-adjusted version, everything is digitized to uncanny perfection.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
As part of this record, associated documents will be digitized and made available to ensure complete transparency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
The health system digitized vast amounts of data, but the law failed to ensure that providers share that information among themselves and the patient.
From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026
Mr. Stein, a veteran journalist, makes good use of recent resources, including modern secondary research and digitized newspaper archives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
The results are digitized so the specifics of Phineas's skull can be overlaid onto a three-dimensional computer image of a generic human skull.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Financial institutions are increasingly tokenizing funds, which refers to digitizing these funds to trade on blockchain ledgers.
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
Hefner said the foundation was digitizing the images and expressed concern they could be sold or lost in a data leak.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2026
Many smaller construction providers are still digitizing and were moving to the cloud just a few years ago, said Jeff Hojlo, an analyst at IDC.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
Much of Tansey’s work involves digitizing documents from physical structures, such as property records, floor plans, and blueprints.
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2025
Molly had even expressed interest in finally getting around to digitizing their film collection as a pretext to learning how to edit video content for the internet, an interest that Clara had thankfully not questioned.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
