Maximize

How to spell maximize

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce maximize

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does maximize mean?

1. verbTo make something as great, large, or effective as possible.

Maximize in a sentence

• The new layout helps maximize the available office space.

• Investors want to maximize returns while keeping risk low.

Where does maximize come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This verb is built on the Latin maximus, meaning 'greatest' or 'largest', which is the superlative form of magnus, meaning 'great' or 'big'. The same magnus family gives English words like magnify, magnitude, and magnate, all carrying that core sense of greatness. The verb itself is a fairly modern coinage: it was assembled in English in the early 1800s, and the philosopher Jeremy Bentham is often credited with popularising it alongside its opposite, minimize, in his writings on weighing pleasure against pain. The ending -ize traces back through Latin to the Greek verb-forming suffix -izein, meaning 'to make' or 'to render', so the whole word literally means 'to make greatest'. For spellers, the trap lies entirely in the unstressed middle: the schwa vowel between 'max' and 'mize' is easy to misjudge, and the choice of -ize versus -ise depends on dialect rather than sound.

How the word is built

• maxim- (from Latin maximus: greatest)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix: to make or render)

British and American spelling

Maximize is the American spelling. British English spells it maximise.