monetize

American  

[mon-i-tahyz, muhn-] / ˈmɒn ɪˌtaɪz, ˈmʌn- /

especially British, monetise

verb (used with object)

monetized, monetizing

1. to legalize as money.

2. to coin into money.

   to monetize gold.

3. to give the character of money to.

4. Economics. to convert (a debt, especially the national debt) into currency, especially by issuing government securities or notes.

5. to make a profit or derive income from.

   Lots of people download the game, but the start-up hasn’t been able to monetize the add-on features.

---

monetize British  

/ ˈmʌnɪˌtaɪz /

verb

1. to establish as the legal tender of a country

2. to give a legal value to (a coin)

---

Other Word Forms

• monetization
  noun

Etymology

Origin of monetize

First recorded in 1875–80; from Latin monēt(a) money + -ize

Explanation

To monetize is to make money. If you write a popular blog, figure out how to monetize it so you don’t work for free. To monetize also means to establish a country's legal tender, as in to literally make money. The word money hides in monetize because it’s all about money. Establishing a new currency, or printing money, is what happens when a country monetizes, like when the European Union decided to monetize the Euro as its new currency. This verb is sometimes used to mean "exchange for money.” These days, monetize often refers to figuring out a way to make money from a website or app.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

monetize monetized monetizing

They would also be allowed to defer payment until they are able to monetize their startup stake.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

As a result, the company now has an unrivaled distribution network to monetize on-device AI features down the road.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

Bowen, 29, has a business built on teaching interested followers to create content, monetize social-media accounts, and about how to invest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Azure sits at the center of enterprise AI adoption, while Microsoft can monetize AI through cloud infrastructure, Office and its broader software ecosystem.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

“It’s really weird to monetize off of people, and they’re not even aware that they’re being recorded,” she said in an interview.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

It is curated, ranked, monetized and constantly optimized using first-party data that tracks what people watch, when they watch it and how they respond to ads.

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

Anyone who bets right on the directional outcome before these events conclude will have monetized one of the most event-heavy calendars in recent memory.

From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026

“The appetite for something that can’t be monetized is growing in direct proportion to how thoroughly the monetized version has saturated every available surface.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026

We have become fantastic at interacting with surfaces, all while our data is harvested and our attention monetized behind the veil of user-friendliness.

From Slate ● Apr. 4, 2026

We were just coming into an age where clicks were being measured and monetized.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

The example they set by monetizing Greek military talent would lure many others into the freebooting life and ultimately lead, seven decades later, to the enormous plundering raids of Alexander the Great.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

The financing surprised investors because it came before the company reported second-quarter earnings, when plans for borrowing, AI capital expenditures and monetizing tend to be updated.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

Moreover, Wood emphasizes that he, like everyone else, “has no idea which, if any, of the hyperscalers are going to be successfully monetizing their AI capex.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

“People will be much more migratory, and more interested in monetizing their real estate.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Anthropic is monetizing that spend through its Claude AI tools.

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026