Word.ws English Dictionary

externalize

externalize verb: to make something external or objective.

Verb

externalize (third-person singular simple present externalizes, present participle externalizing, simple past and past participle externalized)

  1. To make something external or objective.
  2. To represent something abstract or intangible as material; to embody.
  3. To attribute emotions etc to external circumstances; to project.
  4. To direct to others, as costs or benefits.
    • Offering high-quality software as open-source externalizes benefits to a large community, but also externalizes much of the cost of testing and further development.
    • Operating a low-cost, high-pollution manufacturing process externalizes costs in the form of adverse human health consequences and ecosystem effects.

Forms of externalize

third-person singular presentexternalizes
present participleexternalizing
past participleexternalized
pastexternalized

Origin of externalize

From external + -ize.

Words formed from externalize

Questions about externalize

What does externalize mean?
Externalize means to make something external or objective.
What part of speech is externalize?
Externalize is a verb.
What is the past tense of externalize?
The past tense of externalize is externalized.

Words near externalize in the dictionary

  1. externalities
  2. externality
  3. externalizable
  4. externalization
  5. externalizations
  6. externalize
  7. externalized
  8. externalizer
  9. externalizers
  10. externalizes
  11. externalizing

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: externalize (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-externalize.wav.

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