Mobilize

How to spell mobilize

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce mobilize

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does mobilize mean?

1. verbTo organise and prepare people or resources for action or a particular purpose.

Mobilize in a sentence

• The charity worked quickly to mobilize volunteers after the flood.

• The government decided to mobilize the reserves during the crisis.

Where does mobilize come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from the French mobiliser, which was built on the adjective mobile meaning 'movable' or 'able to be moved'. That French adjective traces back to the Latin mobilis, a contraction of movibilis, from the verb movere meaning 'to move'. Mobiliser first gained currency in a military sense during the early nineteenth century, describing the act of calling up troops and equipment and putting them into a state of readiness for action. English adopted it around the 1830s, and the meaning soon broadened beyond armies to cover rallying any people or resources toward a common effort. The same movere root underlies a whole family of familiar English words, including 'motion', 'motor', and 'mobile', which is a useful reminder that the heart of the word is mobil- followed by the -ize ending.

How the word is built

• mobil- (from Latin mobilis: movable)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix: to make or cause)

British and American spelling

Mobilize is the American spelling. British English spells it mobilise.