materialize

[ muh-teer-ee-uh-lahyz ]
See synonyms for: materializematerializedmaterializesmaterialization on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),ma·te·ri·al·ized, ma·te·ri·al·iz·ing.
  1. to come into perceptible existence; appear; become actual or real; be realized or carried out: Our plans never materialized.

  2. to assume material or bodily form; become corporeal: The ghost materialized before Hamlet.

verb (used with object),ma·te·ri·al·ized, ma·te·ri·al·iz·ing.
  1. to give material form to; realize: to materialize an ambition.

  2. to invest with material attributes: to materialize abstract ideas with metaphors.

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

  2. to render materialistic.

Origin of materialize

1
First recorded in 1700–10; material + -ize
  • Also especially British, ma·te·ri·al·ise .

Other words for materialize

Other words from materialize

  • ma·te·ri·al·i·za·tion, noun
  • ma·te·ri·al·iz·er, noun
  • re·ma·te·ri·al·i·za·tion, noun
  • re·ma·te·ri·al·ize, verb, re·ma·te·ri·al·ized, re·ma·te·ri·al·iz·ing.
  • un·ma·te·ri·al·ized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use materialize in a sentence

  • This striking change but too faithfully represents the corresponding degradation and materialization of religious belief.

    The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry Withrow
  • Besides them, there are equal numbers of people who believe in the materialization of spirits.

    From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan | Helena Pretrovna Blavatsky
  • She held out a hope of materialization later, but she wasn't sure she could compass that for some time to come.

    The Come Back | Carolyn Wells
  • Materialization, of course, called for a darkened room, and Shelby's naturally suspicious mind was alert for possible fraud.

    The Come Back | Carolyn Wells
  • It always exhausts me utterly to induce a materialization, and I doubt if I can achieve anything more to-night.

    The Come Back | Carolyn Wells

British Dictionary definitions for materialize

materialize

materialise

/ (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

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

  2. (intr) to take shape; become tangible: after hours of discussion, the project finally began to materialize

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

Derived forms of materialize

  • materialization or materialisation, noun
  • materializer or materialiser, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012