Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Realize

Re′al-ize

(rē′al-īz)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Realized
(-īzd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Realizing
(-īˊzĭng)
.]
[Cf. F.
réaliser
.]
1.
To make real; to convert from the imaginary or fictitious into the actual; to bring into concrete existence; to effectuate; to accomplish;
as, to
realize
a scheme or project
.
We
realize
what Archimedes had only in hypothesis, weighing a single grain against the globe of earth.
Glanvill.
2.
To cause to seem real; to impress upon the mind as actual; to feel vividly or strongly; to make one’s own in apprehension or experience.
Many coincidences . . . soon begin to appear in them [Greek inscriptions] which
realize
ancient history to us.
Jowett.
We can not
realize
it in thought, that the object . . . had really no being at any past moment.
Sir W. Hamilton.
3.
To convert into real property; to make real estate of;
as, to
realize
his fortune
.
4.
To acquire as an actual possession; to obtain as the result of plans and efforts; to gain; to get;
as, to
realize
large profits from a speculation
.
Knighthood was not beyond the reach of any man who could by diligent thrift
realize
a good estate.
Macaulay.
5.
To convert into actual money;
as, to
realize
assets
.

Re′al-ize

,
Verb.
I.
To convert any kind of property into money, especially property representing investments, as shares in stock companies, bonds, etc.
Wary men took the alarm, and began to
realize
, a word now first brought into use to express the conversion of ideal property into something real.
W. Irving.

Webster 1828 Edition

Realize

RE'ALIZE

, v.t.
1.
To bring into being or act; as, to realize a scheme or project.
We realize what Archimedes had only in hypothesis, weighing a single grain of sand against the globe of earth.
2.
To convert money into land, or personal into real estate.
3.
To impress on the mind as a reality; to believe, consider or treat as real. How little do men in full health realize their frailty and mortality.
Let the sincere christian realize the closing sentiment.
4.
To bring home to one's own case or experience; to consider as one's own; to feel in all its force. Who, at his fire side, can realize the distress of shipwrecked mariners?
This allusion must have had enhanced strength and beauty to the eye of a nation extensively devoted to a pastoral life, and therefore realizing all its fine scenes and the tender emotions to which they gave birth.
5.
To bring into actual existence and possession; to render tangible or effective. He never realized much profit from his trade or speculations.

Definition 2024

realize

realize

See also: realizē

English

Alternative forms

  • realise (non-Oxford British spelling)

Verb

realize ‎(third-person singular simple present realizes, present participle realizing, simple past and past participle realized)

  1. (formal, transitive) To make real; to convert from the imaginary or fictitious into the actual; to bring into concrete existence; to accomplish.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Joseph Glanvill
      We realize what Archimedes had only in hypothesis, weighting a single grain against the globe of earth.
    The objectives of the project were never fully realized.‎
  2. (transitive) To become aware of a fact or situation.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or […] . And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness.
    He realized that he had left his umbrella on the train.‎
  3. (transitive) To cause to seem real; to impress upon the mind as actual; to feel vividly or strongly; to make one's own in apprehension or experience.
    • 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, II:
      That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Benjamin Jowett.
      Many coincidences . . . soon begin to appear in them [Greek inscriptions] which realize ancient history to us.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Sir William Hamilton
      We can not realize it in thought, that the object . . . had really no being at any past moment.
  4. (transitive, business) To acquire as an actual possession; to obtain as the result of plans and efforts; to gain; to get
    • (Can we date this quote?) Macaulay
      Knighthood was not beyond the reach of any man who could by diligent thrift realize a good estate.
    to realize large profits from a speculation‎
  5. (transitive, business, finance) To convert any kind of property into money, especially property representing investments, as shares, bonds, etc.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Washington Irving
      Wary men took the alarm, and began to realize, a word now first brought into use to express the conversion of ideal property into something real.
    Profits from the investment can be realized at any time by selling the shares.   By realizing the company's assets, the liquidator was able to return most of the shareholders' investments.‎
  6. (transitive, business, obsolete) To convert into real property; to make real estate of.

Synonyms

Related terms

Derived terms

Translations

References

  • realize in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • realize in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Portuguese

Verb

realize

  1. First-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of realizar
  2. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você?) present subjunctive of realizar
  3. Third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of realizar
  4. Third-person singular (você) negative imperative of realizar

Etymology

Attested since 1610, from French réaliser, from Middle French real ‎(“actual”), from Old French reel, from Latin realis, from res ‎(“thing, event, deed, fact”); as if real +‎ -ize.

Pronunciation

Similar Results