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sterilization

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Etymology and origin of the English word sterilization

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1826
Ultimate origin
Latin sterilis

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌster(ə)laɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/, /ˌsterɪlaɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/[1]
  • US: /ˌster(ə)ləˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English sterilize + -ation.[2][3][4] The verb sterilize is from sterile with the suffix -ize, or from French stériliser;[3][2][4] sterile is from stérile and Latin sterilis (“barren, unproductive”).[3][5] Dictionary.com analyses the noun as the adjective with -ization.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of making unproductive or infertile: Etymonline dates the noun to 1826.[3] The OED's first record, for the action of sterilizing, is from 1874, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society,[2][7] and Dictionary.com dates it to 1870–75.[6]

Semantic evolution

The noun follows the senses of the verb sterilize, which was first used (1695) of making land unfruitful, from 1828 of making people or animals unable to produce offspring, and since 1878 of freeing something from micro-organisms.[2][3] In economics the noun came to mean holding down the money supply or the use of resources to control the economy;[4][2] the Historical Thesaurus dates this use from 1938.[7]

Timeline

  • 1826 – the act of making unproductive or infertile.[3]
  • 1874 – the action of sterilizing.[2][7]
  • 1938 – in economics, an action that keeps resources or money from having their usual effect.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The process of making something free of living microorganisms, as by heat or chemicals: sterilization of surgical instruments.[8][9]
  2. A medical procedure that makes a person or animal unable to reproduce: She asked her doctor about sterilization.[8][4]
  3. The state of being sterile.[9]
  4. (economics) Action that keeps a monetary factor, such as an inflow of gold or foreign currency, from having its usual effect on the economy.[8][4][2]

Word family

  • resterilization

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Sterilization.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/sterilization. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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