Wiktionary

realize

See also: realizē

English

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WOTD – 6 September 2024

Etymology

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PIE word
*reh₁ís

From real (adjective) +‎ -ize (suffix denoting the making of what is indicated by the word it is attached to), possibly modelled after French réaliser, Middle French réaliser (“to make real; to convert (something) into assets or cash”),[1] from real (“actual, real”) + -iser (suffix denoting the making of what is indicated by the word it is attached to). Real is derived from Old French reel, from Latin reālis (“actual, real”), from rēs (“deed; event; matter; thing”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“goods; wealth”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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realize (third-person singular simple present realizes, present participle realizing, simple past and past participle realized) (American spelling, Oxford British English)

  1. (transitive)
    1. (originally chiefly Canada, US)
      1. To become aware of or understand (a fact or situation, especially something which has been true for some time).
        He realized that he had left his umbrella on the train.
        She desperately yelled at her young daughter, frantic to make her realize what she had done.
        • [1849], “‘Woman, Why Weepest Thou?’”, in Memorials of Bertie’s Brother and Infant Sister. […], London: Ward and Co., […], →OCLC, page 79:
          Have faith in God! He shall dispose thy lot, / Nor weep for woe thou realisest not: / They shall precede thee to the better land, / And meet and greet thee on its joyful strand.
        • 1865, [Henry] Suso, “Light after Darkness”, in [anonymous], transl., Spiritual Voices from the Middle Ages. […], London: Joseph Masters, […], →OCLC, part V (Of the State of Grace), paragraph 97, pages 75–76:
          Utterly helpleſs, thou wert ſinking for ever, and realiſedſt not the fearfulneſs of thy poſition, for thus wert thou born and nurtured.
        • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:
          No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or […] . And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness.
        • 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, page 378, column 1:
          SHE wakened in sharp panic, bewildered by the grotesquerie of some half-remembered dream in contrast with the harshness of inclement fact, drowsily realising that since she had fallen asleep it had come on to rain smartly out of a shrouded sky.
        • 1952 March, R. K. Kirkland, “The Railways of Uxbridge”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 147:
          […] Uxbridge thought it could safely ignore the railway […]. Like many other towns which adopted similar tactics, Uxbridge soon realised its mistake.
        • 2000 June – 2002 April (date recorded), Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd, Dave Fridmann, Michael Ivins (lyrics and music), “Do You Realize??”, in Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, performed by The Flaming Lips, Burbank, Calif.: Warner Brothers Records, published 16 July 2002, →OCLC:
          Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?
        • 2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told [online version: ‘Killer robots’ pose threat to peace and should be banned, UN warned]”, in The Guardian Weekly‎[1], volume 188, number 26, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-11, page 6:
          In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.
        • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My Weirdest and Wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 68:
          As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard. The train is a '221'+'220' combo to allow for social distancing – a luxury on an XC train as normally you're playing sardines, so I make the most of it.
      2. To sense (something) strongly or vividly as if real.
        • 1859, Ferna Vale [pseudonym; Emma V. Hallett], “We are Going Home”, in Natalie; or, A Gem among the Sea-weeds. […], Andover, Mass.: W[arren] F[ales] Draper, →OCLC, page 286:
          Over the mind of the tourist, visiting the Old World for the first time,—countries where have transpired thrilling events recorded in history, what an immensity of thought and feeling sweeps! It was thus with Natalie; she could not realize that she was treading in the footsteps of royalty, who living in long past days, had held sway over this land, had looked upon this land of "merrie England" as their home.
        • 1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Science of Deduction”, in A Study in Scarlet. A Detective Story, 3rd edition, London, New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock, Bowden, and Co., […], published 1892, →OCLC, part I (Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […]), pages 19–20:
          That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.
    2. To cause (something) to seem real; to make realistic; specifically, to present (something) clearly to the mind, a person, (archaic) oneself, etc., so that it seems real.
      Antonym: derealize
      • 1654, Richard Baxter, “Rich. Baxter’s Account Given to His Reverend Brother Mr T[homas] Blake of the Reasons of his Dissent from the Doctrine of His Exceptions in His Late Treatise of the Covenants. §. 73.”, in Rich. Baxter’s Apology against the Modest Exceptions of Mr. T[homas] Blake and the Digression of Mr. G[eorge] Kendall. […], London: […] A. M. for Thomas Underhill, […], and Francis Tyton […], →OCLC, pages 130–131:
        Its true that Faith may be ſaid, as you ſpeak, to Realize ſalvation to the Soul; that is, vvhen the Soul doubteth vvhether there be indeed ſuch a Glory and Salvation to be expected and enjoyed by Believers, as Chriſt hath promiſed, here Faith apprehendeth it as Real or Certain, and ſo reſolves the doubt.
      • a. 1733 (date written), Thomas Boston, “The Danger of Unworthy Communicating”, in An Illustration of the Doctrines of the Christian Religion, with Reference to Faith and Practice. […], 2nd edition, volume III, Edinburgh: […] Schaw and Pillans, for the Reverend Joseph Johnston, […], published 1796, →OCLC, paragraph 2, page 348:
        [F]aith realiſeth the ſufferings of Chriſt; it looks upon Chriſt as the common treaſury of all grace, as the principle of life, and root of holineſs.
      • 1781, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Critic: Or A Tragedy Rehearsed […], London: […] T[homas] Becket, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, page 64:
        PUFF. But take care, my dear Dangle, the morning gun is going to fire. [Cannon fires.] / DANGLE. VVell, that vvill have a fine effect. / PUFF. I think ſo, and helps to realize the ſcene.— […]
      • 1750 October 24 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. [60]. Saturday, October 13. 1750.”, in The Rambler, volume III, Edinburgh: [[…] Sands, Murray, and Cochran]; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1750, →OCLC, pages 57–58:
        All joy or ſorrovv for the happineſs or calamities of others, is produced by an act of the imagination, that realiſes the event hovvever fictitious, or approximates it hovvever remote, by placing us for a time in the condition of him vvhoſe fortune vve comtemplate; […]
      • 1881, B[enjamin] Jowett, “On Inscriptions of the Age of Thucydides […]”, in Thucydides Translated into English, volume II (Containing the Notes […]), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, page xiv:
        The broken form in which the older Greek inscriptions have been preserved to us, though impairing, is far from destroying their value. […] Many coincidences, slight as well as important, soon begin to appear in them which realize ancient history to us.
      • 1996, Alan Brown, Audrey Hepburn’s Neck […], New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 277:
        Drawings appear fully realized in his mind's eye at a furious rate, before he even picks up his pencil.
    4. (chiefly passive voice, slightly formal) To convert (something imaginary or planned, as a goal or idea) into reality; to bring into real existence, to make real. [from early 17th c.]
      Synonyms: accomplish, actualize, materialize
      Antonym: disrealize
      Coordinate term: reify
      The objectives of the project were never fully realized.
    5. (reflexive) To achieve (one's) potential.
    6. (business, finance)
      1. To convert (an asset or property, especially investments such as bonds, shares, etc.) into a more easily usable form such as money, especially by selling the asset or property.
        By realizing the company’s assets, the liquidator was able to return most of the shareholders’ investments.
        Profits from the investment can be realized at any time by selling the shares.
      2. To acquire (money, a profit, etc.) by selling an asset or property, through trade, etc.; also (followed by on), to make (money or a profit) on an investment, a venture, etc.
        to realize large profits from a speculation
      3. Of an asset or property: to generate (a specific amount of money or interest) when invested or sold.
    7. (linguistics) To turn (an abstract linguistic object, especially a phoneme) into a speech sound actually used in a language.
      The southern /v/ is realized as the voiced approximant [ʋ].
      • 2016, John Charles Smith, “French and Northern Gallo-Romance”, in Adam Ledgeway, Martin Maiden, editors, The Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages (Oxford Linguistics; Oxford Guides to the World’s Languages), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, part III (Individual Structural Overviews), page 297, column 1:
        The phonetic realization of schwa varies; […] Many (probably most) speakers realize it as [ø] or [œ] in other contexts as well. In Midi French, schwa is realized more frequently than in northern varieties, including in word-final position, where it generally (but not always) corresponds to etymological /ə/.
    8. (mathematics) To obtain an entity from (an abstract group or structure).
    9. (music)
      1. To arrange (a musical work written for a single performer) to be performed by an orchestra; to orchestrate.
      2. To complete (a musical work which is incomplete or not fully notated).
      3. Chiefly in Baroque music: to play an accompaniment, harmonies, etc., based on (a figured bass).
    10. (obsolete, US) To have an actual or real experience of (something).
  2. (intransitive)
    1. To become aware of or understand a fact or situation.
    2. To cause to seem real; to make realistic.
    3. (business, finance)
      1. To convert an asset or property into a more easily usable form such as money.
        • 1855, Washington Irving, “[A Time of Unexampled Prosperity.] The Great Mississippi Bubble.”, in Wolfert’s Roost and Other Papers, […], New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam & Co., […], →OCLC, page 174:
          Wary men took the alarm, and began to realize, a word now first brought into use to express the conversion of ideal property into something real.
      2. Followed by on or upon: to acquire money or a profit from the sale of an asset or property.
      3. (obsolete) With an adverb like badly or well: of an asset or property being sold: to generate little or a lot of money.
        The estate is expected to realize well as it comprises many valuable assets.

Conjugation

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Conjugation of realize
infinitive (to) realize
present tense past tense
1st-person singular realize realized
2nd-person singular realize, realizest† realized, realizedst†
3rd-person singular realizes, realizeth† realized
plural realize
subjunctive realize realized
imperative realize —
participles realizing realized

†Archaic or obsolete.

Alternative forms

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  • realise (non-Oxford British spelling)

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “realize, v.2”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2024; “realize, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Mauritian Creole

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Etymology

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From French réaliser.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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realize (medial form realiz)

  1. to realize.
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Portuguese

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Verb

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realize

  1. inflection of realizar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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