immortalize

American  

[ih-mawr-tl-ahyz] / ɪˈmɔr tlˌaɪz /

especially British, immortalise

verb (used with object)

immortalized, immortalizing

1. to bestow unending fame upon; perpetuate.

2. to make immortal; endow with immortality.

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immortalize British  

/ ɪˈmɔːtəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. to give everlasting fame to, as by treating in a literary work

   Macbeth was immortalized by Shakespeare

2. to give immortality to

3. biology to cause (cells) to reproduce indefinitely

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Other Word Forms

• immortalizable adjective
• immortalization noun
• immortalizer noun

Etymology

Origin of immortalize

First recorded in 1560–70; immortal + -ize

Example Sentences

Nowadays, soon after a contemporary Hollywood blockbuster is released, people start speculating about when it might be immortalized as a theme-park ride.

From The Wall Street Journal

No Hollywood star has immortalized him on the big screen.

From The Wall Street Journal

If the Shakers have a lasting cultural legacy, it is their music — most famously “Simple Gifts,” the uplifting spiritual Aaron Copland immortalized in his ballet “Appalachian Spring.”

From Los Angeles Times

But O’Neill’s 1921 drama poses ornery challenges for an actress—and not just because Greta Garbo immortalized the role in her first “talkie.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Now awake and aware of the need to eat, we walk the old stone to Sobrino de Botín, “It is one of the best restaurants in the world,” according to Hemingway, who immortalized the place.

From Salon

Related Words

• commemorate