utilize English · revision 39859

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1794|origins=la ūtor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈjuː.tɪ.laɪz/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈju.tə.laɪz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|utiliser]] (1792), from [[m|it|utilizzare]] (1760),^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) from [[m|it|utile|t=useful]], [[m|la|ūtilis|t=usable, useful]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) from [[m|la|ūtor|t=to use, profit by]], the source of [[use]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) Merriam-Webster and Klein describe the French verb as formed on ''utile'' with the suffix that became [[-ize]].^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) Barnhart notes that ''utile'' "useful" also existed in English from 1484, now obsolete.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To make useful, put to use: Etymonline dates the verb to 1794,^(Etymonline) while the OED, Merriam-Webster and Barnhart give 1807, from Joel Barlow's ''Columbiad'',^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1995) and Dictionary.com 1800–10.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word spread quickly in the 19th century: in 1873 Fitzedward Hall remarked that ''utilize'' was "fast antiquating ''improve''" in the sense "turn to account".^(Etymonline) The noun ''utilization'' followed in 1847, perhaps under the influence of [[m|fr|utilisation]].^(Barnhart 1995) A rare intransitive use, to make oneself useful, is found in Howells in 1883.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1794 – to make use of.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1807 – first OED quotation.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1847 – ''utilization''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1883 – intransitive, to make oneself useful (rare).^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make practical or profitable [[use]] of something; to turn to account: ''The new plant utilizes waste heat from the furnace.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[utilizable]]

+ * [[utilizer]]

+ * [[utilization]]

+ * [[overutilize]]

+ * [[reutilize]]

+ * [[underutilize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[use]]

+ * [[utility]]

+ * [[utile]]

+ * [[usage]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary notes that critics often call ''utilize'' a needless substitute for ''use'', and that many examples could take ''use'' instead with no loss but pretentiousness; but ''utilize'' can mean to find a profitable or practical use for something, which ''use'' alone does not say.^(AHD 2000) The spelling ''utilise'' is chiefly British.^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}