itemize

Etymology

It is formed from English item + -ize,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} and Etymonline and Dictionary.com call it an Americanism.^[5][6] Its base is from Latin item (“just so, in like manner, moreover”),^[2][5][7] which the OED analyses as is, id (“he, it”) with the adverbial ending -tem.^[2] The adverb was used to introduce a new fact, and in French and English it stood before each article in a list, which led to the noun.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To state by items, give the particulars of: 1833, implied in itemized, according to Etymonline.^[5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged's first date is 1857,^[3] and the OED's first record is in Webster's American Dictionary of 1864.^[2]

Semantic evolution

An earlier verb item, to make a note of, is recorded from about 1600,^[5][7] and Hoad notes that itemize was especially American.^[7] It means both to enter something as an item and to list the items of a whole, such as an account.^[2][3] The American Heritage Dictionary also records an intransitive sense, to list deductions from taxable income.^[8]

Timeline

• 1833 – to state by items, implied in itemized, in American English.^[5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the verb to 1857,^[3] and the OED's first record is from 1864.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To set down item by item, or to enter as an item on a list: The plumber itemized the parts and labor on his invoice.^[2][3][9][8]
2. To specify the separate items of: The accountant itemized the annual budget.^[2][3][8]
3. To list deductions from taxable income on a tax return: Many homeowners choose to itemize.^[8]

Word family

• itemization
• itemizer
• nonitemized
• reitemize

Related words

• item

Usage notes

It is also spelled itemise, especially in British English.^[3][9][6]

References

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