Mobilization

How to spell mobilization

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce mobilization

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does mobilization mean?

1. nounThe act of organising and preparing people, troops, or resources for active service or a coordinated effort.

Mobilization in a sentence

• The general ordered the mobilization of three divisions before dawn.

• The charity's rapid mobilization of volunteers delivered aid within hours.

Where does mobilization come from?

Language of origin: French

The word traces back to the Latin mobilis, meaning 'movable' or 'easily moved', which was a contraction of an earlier movibilis built on movere, 'to move'. French turned this idea into the verb mobiliser during the late eighteenth century, originally as a military term for calling up troops and putting an army into a state of readiness. From that verb came the French noun mobilisation, and English borrowed both into the early nineteenth century, keeping the military flavour at first before broadening it to mean rallying any resources or people for a purpose. The same mobilis root sits inside the everyday words 'mobile' and 'automobile', a useful reminder that the heart of the word is simply 'move'. The spelling trap lies in the quiet middle: the unstressed 'i' in 'mobil-' and the '-iza-' run can blur, and writers must remember the 'z' rather than an 's' in this form.

How the word is built

• mobil- (from Latin mobilis: movable, able to move)
• -iz(e) (verb-forming suffix)
• -ation (noun of action)

British and American spelling

Mobilization is the American spelling. British English spells it mobilisation.