-ize

• (General American) IPA^(key): /-aɪz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

According to the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, "it is unstressed (though strong) in Received Pronunciation and General American, but sometimes stressed in other varieties".

From Middle English -isen, from Middle French -iser, from Late Latin -izāre, from Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō), from Proto-Indo-European *-idyé- (verbal suffix). Cognate with Old English -ettan (verbal suffix).

• -ise (non-Oxford British spelling)

-ize (verb-forming suffix, third-person singular simple present -izes, present participle -izing, simple past and past participle -ized)

1. Used to form verbs from nouns or adjectives, especially similative verbs
   1. to make what is denoted by the noun/adjective

      ‎pixel + ‎-ize → ‎pixelize

   2. to do what is denoted by the noun/adjective

      ‎cannibal + ‎-ize → ‎cannibalize

• Many English verbs end in the suffix -ize, which in British English can also be spelled -ise, but must not be confused with the French stems -vise, -tise, -cise, and -prise (as in surprise, supervise, comprise, etc.), spelled thus everywhere. This suffix ultimately derives from Late Latin -izāre, Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō), but it entered English from Middle French -iser as Middle English -isen. The variation of -ize and -ise began in Old French and Middle English, perhaps aided by words such as surprise (see above). In Britain, despite the opposition to it (at least formerly) of the Oxford University Press, -ise remains dominant. In the US, only -z- spelling of the suffix is used, and it is the predominant one in Canada.

• -izer, -ization

See -ise (noun-forming suffix).

-ize (noun-forming suffix, plural -izes)

1. Alternative form of -ise (suffix used to form nouns).

   ‎palliard + ‎-ize → ‎palliardize