-ize

(Latin: a suffix; to act in a certain way; to treat in a certain way; to make into; to treat with; to do; to make; to cause)

These word entries are just a small listing of the many words that exist with the -ize endings; so, be aware that there are many more words with this suffix which exist in this lexicon.

Another closely related suffix family with the same meanings, but a different spelling, is located at this -ise unit.

angelicize (verb), angelicizes; angelicized; angelicizing
To make saintly, angelic, or to become like an angel: As a Christian minister, John was striving to angelicize his little boy so he would grow up to be an example of innocence and high moral standards.

To angelicize someone is to make him or her a spiritual person with purity and without evil.

angelize (verb), angelizes; angelized; angelizing
To elevate to the status of an angel; to express as angelic: Mary, the volunteer at the refugee camp, was so comforting, so helpful, so supportive, and so understanding that they angelized her in such a way that it was embarrassing for her!
animalize (AN uh muh lighz") (verb), animalizes; animalized; animalizing
1. To bring out someone’s brutal or instinctive nature: Sometimes being active in war for a few years in a country can animalize a soldier later on when he or she is home again, and there are some who become quite cruel and ruthless towards others.
2. To make coarse and brutal; dehumanize: Hostilities in fighting can animalize people by degrading them, demeaning them, or putting them down.
3. To endow a deity, or god, with the attributes of a creature that is non-human: Jane read a story where a divine being was animalized into the form of a horse and later appeared again as a humanoid or a person.
annalize (verb), annalizes; annalized; annalizing
1. To write in logs or journals in order to document information: Alvin's main job was to annalize, or to record, events as they were arranged chronologically by the year.
2. To record history in general, as it is recorded in books and other documents: Marlene was known to annalize the historical past of her city.
annualize (verb), annualizes; annualized; annualizing
To calculate or to do each year: People annualize their birthdays or businesses every 365 days, and people normally annualize their monetary income for tax purposes also on a regular basis about every 12 months.
anodize (verb), anodizes; anodized; anodizing
To coat a metal, for example, aluminum or magnesium, with a decorative oxide protective film, or by making the metal the anode of an electrolytic cell: The handles of the knives Sally had had been anodized, producing a wonderful blue color.
antagonize (verb), antagonizes; antagonized; antagonizing
To arouse dislike in someone: Sam's remarks antagonized Mildred when he criticized her for not presenting a complete report on a specific date.
anthologize (verb), anthologizes; anthologized; anthologizing
1. To construct or to publish a collection of written materials: Richard was a creator of poems and short stories which he was anthologizing for his students.
2. To compile music: Tim's band will be releasing or anthologizing their previous musical albums for their devoted fans.
anthropologize (verb), anthropologizes; anthropologized; anthropologizing
To explain, treat, or study the variability and development of human traits and ways of life in different populations and environments: In her studies at college, Sarah anthropoligized the behaviors, lifestyles, and rituals of people from around the world by reading textbooks and going to lectures.
appetize (noun), appetizes; appetized; appetizing
To make hungry or to awaken a craving for something: It was near noon time when Bruce and Susan passed a bakery where the smell of newly baked bread and pastries whetted or appetized their longing for food!
arborize (verb), arborizes: arborized; arborizing
1. To produce or to have a branching arrangement: In her biology book, Jenny could see in a picture how the bronchial tubes of the lungs arborized or furcated.
2. To branch freely and repeatedly: Shirley's nerve fibers arborized properly for the medical physician to see.
arcticize (verb), arcticizes; arcticized; arcticizing
To prepare or make suitable for arctic conditions; winterize: Since Janet had some small orange trees in pots in her garden during the summer months, she had to arcticize them before the temperatures dropped below 0°C at the end of fall so that they would not die in the extremely cold climate where she lived!
astrologize (verb), astrologizes; astrologized; astrologizing
To study how the various positions of the stars and movements of the planets have an influence on the events and on the lives and behavior of people: Mary read a book describing how the celestial bodies in the sky can affect an individual's everyday activities and future and thought that she could astrologize more about this topic!
baptize (verb), baptizes; baptized; baptizing
1. The immersion or dipping of a believer in water symbolizing the complete renewal and change in the believer's life and testifying to one's belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the way to salvation: To baptize someone in water was and still is a sign that the person has been accepted into the Christian faith.

The meaning of baptism is not the same for all Christian groups. For some denominations, the sacrament of baptism is performed by immersing the whole body in water, and this is done with mature people, not with babies.

2. To give a personal name to someone during the Christian ritual of baptism as some religious groups do when an infant is sprinkled with water: More generally among many church denominations, a baby is baptized during the ceremony by the sprinkling with water on the face of a baby or of an adult, and often with an baby, he or she is given a first or Christian name; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is called Christening.
3. Etymology: from Old French batisier (11th century), from Latin baptizare, which came from Greek baptizein, "to immerse, to dip in water"; also used figuratively; such as, "to be over one's head" (in debt, etc.), "to be soaked (in wine)"; in Greek Christian usage, "baptize"; from baptein, "to dip, to steep, to dye, to color". For sense development, baptism originally consisted of "full immersion".
brutalize (verb), brutalizes; brutalized; brutalizing
1. To cause someone to lose his or her normal human kindness or feelings: Silvia's husband seemed to brutalize her when she dropped the main dish of their dinner on the kitchen floor.
2. To treat a person in a very harsh and usually violent way: Mathew, a British soldier, said he was brutalized when he was a prisoner during the last war in Europe.

When George was robbed in his home, the robbers brutalized him and forced him to give them the cash that he had.