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popularize

[ pop-yuh-luh-rahyz ]
/ ˈpɒp yə ləˌraɪz /
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verb (used with object), pop·u·lar·ized, pop·u·lar·iz·ing.

to make popular: to popularize a dance.

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RELATED WORDS

simplify, promote, revive, disseminate, restore, familiarize, universalize, resurrect, spread, generalize

Nearby words

  1. popular song,
  2. popular sovereignty,
  3. popular vote,
  4. popularity,
  5. popularization,
  6. popularly,
  7. populate,
  8. population,
  9. population control,
  10. population explosion
Also especially British, pop·u·lar·ise.

Origin of popularize

First recorded in 1585–95; popular + -ize
Related forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for popularize

British Dictionary definitions for popularize

popularize

popularise

/ (ˈpɒpjʊləˌraɪz) /

verb (tr)

to make popular; make attractive to the general public
to make or cause to become easily understandable or acceptable
Derived Formspopularization or popularisation, nounpopularizer or populariser, 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 popularize

popularize

v.

"to make a complex topic intelligible to the people," 1833, from popular + -ize. Earlier "to cater to popular taste" (1590s); "to make popular" (1797). Related: Popularized; popularizing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper