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definitions

materialize

[muh-teer-ee-uh-lahyz]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR materialize ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), ma·te·ri·al·ized, ma·te·ri·al·iz·ing.

to come into perceptible existence; appear; become actual or real; be realized or carried out: Our plans never materialized.
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.

to give material form to; realize: to materialize an ambition.
to invest with material attributes: to materialize abstract ideas with metaphors.
to make physically perceptible; cause (a spirit or the like) to appear in bodily form.
to render materialistic.

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RELATED WORDS

emerge, appear, realize, unfold, happen, occur, evolve, visualize, develop, exteriorize, substantiate, typify, personalize, metamorphose, manifest, coalesce, objectify, externalize, personify, actualize
Also especially British, ma·te·ri·al·ise.

Origin of materialize

First recorded in 1700–10; material + -ize
Related formsma·te·ri·al·i·za·tion, nounma·te·ri·al·iz·er, nounre·ma·te·ri·al·i·za·tion, nounre·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

Synonyms for materialize

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR materialize ON THESAURUS.COM
1. emerge, show, rise, issue.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for materialize

Contemporary Examples of materialize

Historical Examples of materialize

  • He's been there to give her things to materialize and soon I'll hear of them!

    The Come Back

    Carolyn Wells

  • The last years of Newton's life were perplexed by the charge that his theory of gravitation tended to "materialize" religion.

    Inventors

    Philip Gengembre Hubert

  • He had to do it that way, did not want her to wait endlessly and hopelessly for a return that would not materialize.

    Voyage To Eternity

    Milton Lesser

  • If the aid promised by the United States were actually to materialize!

    The Enemies of Women

    Vicente Blasco Ibez

  • Like some strange, shining ghosts, these ships seemed to materialize instantly beside and behind their fleet.

    The Black Star Passes

    John W Campbell

British Dictionary definitions for materialize

materialize

materialise

verb

(intr) to become fact; actually happenour hopes never materialized
to invest or become invested with a physical shape or form
to cause (a spirit, as of a dead person) to appear in material form or (of a spirit) to appear in such form
(intr) to take shape; become tangibleafter hours of discussion, the project finally began to materialize
physics to form (material particles) from energy, as in pair production
Derived Formsmaterialization or materialisation, nounmaterializer 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
Word Origin and History for materialize
v.

1710, "represent as material," from material (adj.) + -ize. Meaning "appear in bodily form" is 1880, in spiritualism. Related: Materialized; materializing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper