Word.ws English Dictionary

velarize

Syllables: ve·lar·ize/ˈviːləɹaɪz/

velarize verb: to raise the back of the tongue toward the velum while articulating another consonant, such as the l of English pool.

Verb

velarize (third-person singular simple present velarizes, present participle velarizing, simple past and past participle velarized)

  1. To raise the back of the tongue toward the velum while articulating another consonant, such as the l of English pool.
  2. To replace a (usually more front) consonant with a velar.
    • In several dialects of Central German, the cluster -nd- has been velarized to -ng-.

Forms of velarize

third-person singular presentvelarizes
present participlevelarizing
past participlevelarized
pastvelarized
alternative formvelarise

Origin of velarize

From velar + -ize.

Words that rhyme with velarize

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about velarize

What does velarize mean?
Velarize means to raise the back of the tongue toward the velum while articulating another consonant, such as the l of English pool.
What part of speech is velarize?
Velarize is a verb.
How do you pronounce velarize?
Velarize is pronounced /ˈviːləɹaɪz/.
What is the past tense of velarize?
The past tense of velarize is velarized.

Words near velarize in the dictionary

  1. velariums
  2. velarivirus
  3. velariviruses
  4. velarization
  5. velarizations
  6. velarize
  7. velarized
  8. velarizes
  9. velarizing
  10. velarness
  11. velars

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: velarize (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:

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

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