-ize

US/-aɪz/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/-ɑjz/

-ize suffix: to make what is denoted by the noun/adjective. Also the alternative form of -ise.

Suffix

-ize (verb-forming suffix, third-person singular simple present -izes, present participle -izing, simple past and past participle -ized)

to make what is denoted by the noun/adjective
- pixel + -ize → pixelize
to do what is denoted by the noun/adjective
- cannibal + -ize → cannibalize

Also used as

-ize is also the alternative form of -ise.

-ize meaning in Arabic, Persian, Thai and Vietnamese

-ize in Arabic

suffix used to form verbs: فَعَّلَ faʕʕala

-ize in Persian

suffix used to form verbs: ـیدن -idan

-ize in Thai

suffix used to form verbs: ทำให้เป็น tām-hâi-bpēn

Synonyms of -ize

-ify
-maxx

Forms of -ize

third-person singular present	-izes
present participle	-izing
past participle	-ized
past	-ized
alternative form	-ise
plural	-izes

Origin of -ize

From Middle English -isen, from Middle French -iser, from Late Latin -izāre, from Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō), from Proto-Indo-European *-idyé- (verbal suffix). Cognate with Old English -ettan (verbal suffix).

See -ise (noun-forming suffix).

Words formed from -ize

Questions about -ize

What does -ize mean?: -ize means to make what is denoted by the noun/adjective.
What is -ize in Arabic?: -ize in Arabic is فَعَّلَ (faʕʕala). See -ize meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is -ize?: -ize is a suffix.
How do you pronounce -ize?: -ize is pronounced /-ɑjz/ (British).

Words near -ize in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: -ize (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl--ize.wav.

Cite this entry: “-ize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/-ize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.