immortalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to bestow unending fame upon; perpetuate.
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to make immortal; endow with immortality.
verb
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to give everlasting fame to, as by treating in a literary work
Macbeth was immortalized by Shakespeare
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to give immortality to
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biology to cause (cells) to reproduce indefinitely
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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immortalizesimple
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immortalizessimple
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have immortalizedperfect
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has immortalizedperfect
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am immortalizingprogressive
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are immortalizingprogressive
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is immortalizingprogressive
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have been immortalizingperfect progressive
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has been immortalizingperfect progressive
Past
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immortalizedsimple
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had immortalizedperfect
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was immortalizingprogressive
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were immortalizingprogressive
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had been immortalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of immortalize
Explanation
When you immortalize something, you praise it in a way that's meant to last forever. You could immortalize your favorite pop star, for example, by carving a huge statue of him out of marble. The existence of Disneyland and Disney World has managed to immortalize the image of Mickey Mouse, especially the silhouette of his ears. Through the years, many artists have chosen to immortalize US presidents through public art like the Lincoln Memorial and Mount Rushmore. The verb immortalize comes from the adjective immortal, or "living forever," with its Latin root, immortalis, "deathless or undying."
Vocabulary lists containing immortalize
The Glass Castle
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"Texas v. Johnson, Majority Opinion" by William J. Brennan
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Whirligig
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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.
"For a melanocyte to transform into cancer, one of the biggest hurdles is to immortalize itself. Once it can do that, it's well on its way to cancer."
From Science Daily • Jul. 1, 2026
That’s the one thing I love about this book is that I can immortalize some of my personal heroes and places that I hold dear to my heart.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026
The pharaohs of ancient Egypt built pyramids in the Valley of Kings to immortalize themselves.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 5, 2025
She was 8 when the family moved to the riverside farm Aldo Leopold would immortalize in “A Sand County Almanac.”
From Seattle Times • Mar. 2, 2024
You do not immortalize the lost by writing about them.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
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.
