Etymologically
Log in

optimize

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:49. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɒptɪmaɪz/[1]
  • US: /ˈɑptɪmaɪz/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English optimum + -ize,[2][3][4] or directly from Latin optimus (“best”) with the suffix;[5][6][7] optimum is the neuter singular of the Latin adjective, used as the superlative of bonus (“good”).[8] The sense "to act as an optimist" was formed after optimism and optimist:[5] Etymonline and Barnhart call it a back-formation from optimist,[8][2] and Merriam-Webster gives that sense its own entry, derived from optimist.[4] Etymonline notes that optimus may be related to ops (“power, resources”), from Proto-Indo-European *op- (“to work, produce in abundance”), as Watkins suggests, or to ob (“in front of”), as de Vaan suggests.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make the best or most of something, to develop it to the utmost: 1817, in Leigh Hunt's writing in the Examiner.[5] Merriam-Webster gives the same year,[4] while Barnhart and Etymonline date this sense to 1857[2][8] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1835–45.[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the verb had two senses: to make the most of something (1817–94), and, after optimist, to take a hopeful view of things (1844–69), first recorded in an article by Gladstone in the Quarterly Review.[5][2] The OED marks both as obsolete,[5] but Collins and Merriam-Webster still list "to be optimistic".[9][4] The current sense, to make something as good or as effective as possible, appears in economics in 1941, in the American Economic Review;[5] from there it spread to engineering and computing, where a program is optimized for speed or storage.[9] The intransitive use "to become optimal" (1971) is rare, and "to carry out a process of optimization" is recorded from 1988.[5]

Timeline

  • 1817 – to make the best or most of; to develop to the utmost (obsolete by 1894).[5][4]
  • 1844 – to act as an optimist, to take a favourable view of things.[5][2][8]
  • 1941 – to make as good or effective as possible, in economics.[5]
  • 1971 – intransitive, to become optimal (rare).[5]
  • 1988 – intransitive, to carry out optimization.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make something as effective, efficient or useful as possible: The firm optimized its delivery routes to save fuel.[4][9][5]
  2. To plan or carry out an economic activity with the greatest efficiency.[9]
  3. In computing, to write or change a program so that it uses as little time, memory or other resources as possible.[9]
  4. To find the best compromise among several conflicting requirements, as in engineering design.[9]
  5. To make the fullest use of something; to take full advantage of it.[9][6]
  6. To be optimistic; to take a hopeful view.[9][4]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins