-ize Definition
īz
suffix
To cause to be or to become.
Dramatize.
American Heritage
To cause to conform to or resemble.
Hellenize.
American Heritage
To treat as.
Idolize.
American Heritage
To treat or affect with.
Anesthetize.
American Heritage
To subject to.
Tyrannize.
American Heritage
affix
To cause to be or become; make conform with or resemble; make.
Democratize, Americanize.
Webster's New World
To become, become like, or change into.
Crystallize.
Webster's New World
To subject to, treat with, or combine with.
Oxidize, galvanize.
Webster's New World
To engage in; act in a (specified) way.
Soliloquize, theorize.
Webster's New World
Origin of -ize
-
From Middle English -isen (“-ise, -ize”), from Old French -iser (“-ize”), from Latin -izāre (“-ize”), from Ancient Greek -ίζειν (-izein), from Proto-Indo-European *-idyé- (verbal suffix). Cognate with Gothic [script?] (-itjan, verbal suffix), Old High German -izzen (verbal suffix), Old English -ettan (verbal suffix). Also see notes.
From Wiktionary
Middle English -isen from Old French -iser from Late Latin -izāre from Greek -izein v. suff.
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
ME -isen < OFr -iser < LL -izare < Gr -izein
From Webster's New World College Dictionary, 5th Edition
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