-ize

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 631 words | Copyright

-ize, -ise suffix of verbs, repr. F. -iser — late L. -ī̌zāre — Gr. -ízein, which was used to form both intr. and trans. vbs., as barbarizein play the barbarian, side with barbarians (f. bárbaros BARBARIAN), thesaurízein treasure up (f. thēsaurós TREASURE). Many verbs have come into Eng. through F., in which they are spelt with s, with the result that -ise has been generalized, and is retained, as against -ize, in the practice of some printing houses; e Xx. are civiliser CIVILIZE, humaniser HUMANIZE. The corr. nouns of action end in -ization, and agent-nouns in -izer.

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T. F. HOAD. "-ize." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "-ize." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ize.html

T. F. HOAD. "-ize." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ize.html

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