realization

American  

[ree-uh-luh-zey-shuhn] / ˌri ə ləˈzeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the making or being made real of something imagined, planned, etc.

2. the result of such a process.

   The new church was the realization of a ten-year dream.

3. the act of realizing or the state of being realized.

4. an instance or result of realizing.

5. Music.

   1. the act of realizing a figured bass.

   2. a printed score of a realized figured bass.

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Other Word Forms

• nonrealization noun
• prerealization noun

Etymology

Origin of realization

First recorded in 1605–15; from French réalisation; equivalent to realize + -ation

Example Sentences

Mr. Bush came to the realization—and only after 9/11, remember—that vicious rulers and their failed states generate disaffected people who harbor ill designs on the United States.

From The Wall Street Journal

The realization that I didn’t have enough of my prescription medications to last three extra days—including blood thinners, which I was taking after a near-fatal pulmonary embolism last year—sent me into a tizzy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Then throughout postproduction, as the scenes were continually retooled and rearranged, the story continued to evolve and grow and new realizations kept springing from the work for everyone involved.

From Los Angeles Times

“The big surprise will be the realization that this labor market is not cooling,” Rosenberg said, in an interview with MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch

The realization was cemented six months later after Pearl Harbor by the Battle of Midway, when carrier-launched aircraft decimated the Japanese fleet in what is largely considered a decisive turning point in the Pacific war.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accomplishment
• attainment
• fulfillment
• success