-ize

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English -isen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French -iser, and later directly borrowed from Late Latin -izāre,^[2][3][5][6] from Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō),^[5][4][7] from Proto-Indo-European *-idyé- according to Wiktionary, which compares Old English -ettan.^[1] It is the source of the French, Italian and Spanish forms French -iser, Italian -izzare and Spanish -izar.^[8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Greek verbs of this type were partly intransitive, as in βαρβαρίζω (barbarízō, “to play the barbarian; to side with barbarians”), and partly transitive, as in καθαρίζω (katharízō, “to purify”) and θησαυρίζω (thēsaurízō, “to treasure up”).^[5][7] Christian writers of the 3rd and 4th centuries latinized a few of them: baptizō, evangelizō, catēchizō.^[5] The OED takes baptize as probably the earliest word in -ize in English.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Latin form became the normal way of adapting Greek verbs, and in medieval Latin and the modern languages it spread to Latin and national names, and then to Latin adjectives and nouns.^[5] The OED classes the English verbs as "make into or treat like" (baptize), "act like or follow a practice" (apologize, botanize), those on ethnic adjectives (Anglicize), on names of people (Calvinize), and on names of substances (alcoholize),^[5] and Dictionary.com calls it one of the most productive suffixes in the language.^[6] Barnhart notes a modern use for transferring an institution or authority to an ethnic or national group, as in Vietnamize, formed by back-formation from nouns in -ization.^[9]

Timeline

• 1297 – baptize.^[5]
• late 16th century – the suffix comes into common use,^[6] and English partly returns to the Greek spelling with -z-.^[4]
• 1694 – the French Academy's dictionary fixes the spelling with -s-, which influences English.^[4]

Meanings

Suffix

1. Forming transitive verbs from adjectives and nouns, meaning to make into or cause to become: modernize, legalize.^[10][3][9]
2. Forming verbs meaning to subject to a treatment or process: pasteurize, hypnotize.^[10][3]
3. Forming intransitive verbs meaning to act in some way or follow some practice: economize, sermonize.^[10][8][5]
4. Forming verbs meaning to become: crystallize.^[10][9]

Word family

• -ization
• baptize
• apologize
• criticize
• civilize
• -izer

Related words

• -ism
• -ist
• -ise

Usage notes

American usage favours -ize, while British usage often has -ise.^[9][4] Etymonline says the variation began in Old French and Middle English and affects about 200 verbs.^[4] The OED argues for -ize on etymological and phonetic grounds and uses it throughout.^[5] Words in which the ending has another source, such as advertise, devise, exercise and surprise, take only -ise.^[9][4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins