harmonize

American  

[hahr-muh-nahyz] / ˈhɑr məˌnaɪz /

especially British, harmonise

verb (used with object)

harmonized, harmonizing

1. to bring into harmony, accord, or agreement.

   to harmonize one's views with the new situation.

   Synonyms:

   compose, reconcile

2. Music. to accompany with appropriate harmony.

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verb (used without object)

harmonized, harmonizing

1. to be in agreement in action, sense, or feeling.

   Though of different political parties, all the delegates harmonized on civil rights.

   Synonyms:

   accord, agree

2. to sing in harmony.

harmonize British  

/ ˈhɑːməˌnaɪz /

verb

1. to make or become harmonious

2. (tr) music to provide a harmony for (a melody, tune, etc)

3. (intr) to sing in harmony, as with other singers

4. to collate parallel narratives

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Other Word Forms

• harmonizable adjective
• harmonization noun
• harmonizer noun
• reharmonize verb (used with object)
• unharmonize verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of harmonize

First recorded in 1475–85; late Middle English, also armonise, from Middle French harmoniser, equivalent to harmonie + -iser, verb suffix; harmony, -ize

Explanation

When you harmonize different opinions or ideas, you bring them to some kind of agreement. It's challenging to harmonize the different interests of a whole classroom full of children, but that's part of what a good teacher does. When senators from different parties work together on a bill, they need to harmonize their different expectations and and priorities before they can come up with a good compromise. Another way to harmonize is to blend two singing voices or two instruments in a way that sounds pleasing. This is the oldest meaning of the word, which ultimately comes from the Greek harmonia, "concord of sounds" or "agreement."

Example Sentences

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins in a presentation mostly aimed at showing that the agencies would harmonize their rules to promote cryptocurrency innovation and rationalize margin collateral requirements in securities markets.

From Barron's • Jan. 31, 2026

"One of the technical advances that we made in this work is to figure out how to harmonize all these different data modalities so they can come together to learn the same language," Zou said.

From Science Daily • Jan. 9, 2026

“She said, ‘Well, how can we harmonize if you keep changing the melody?’

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025

Tony Xu, DoorDash’s chief executive, said during the company’s earnings call on Wednesday that the planned investments would help harmonize its tech infrastructure, after bringing those other delivery platforms under its wing.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 6, 2025

It isn’t that Gau was deliberately trying to harmonize himself with me.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• adjust
• cooperate
• coordinate
• correspond
• integrate
• match
• reconcile
• unify