Realization

How to spell realization

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce realization

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does realization mean?

1. nounThe moment or act of becoming clearly aware of something previously not understood.
2. nounThe act of achieving or making concrete a plan, goal, or potential.

Realization in a sentence

• The realization that he had missed the deadline came too late.

• The realization of the new transport plan took almost a decade.

• Her realization of how much money they had wasted prompted a strict budget.

• Opening the clinic marked the realization of a lifelong ambition.

Where does realization come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin adjective realis, meaning 'relating to things' or 'actual', which itself grew from res, the plain Latin word for 'a thing' or 'matter'. From realis English built the verb 'realize' in the late 1500s, borrowing the form through French realiser, with the early sense of making something real or bringing it into actual existence. The noun 'realization' followed, recording either the act of making something real or, by a natural mental shift, the act of grasping something clearly in the mind, as if an idea suddenly becomes real to you. The spelling keeps the visible 'real' at its heart, which is the easiest anchor for remembering it, while the trap lies in the unstressed middle vowel and the z that many writers expect to be an s. The same res root survives in everyday relatives such as 'real', 'really', and 'reality'.

How the word is built

• real (actual, existing)
• -ize (verb suffix: to make)
• -ation (noun suffix: the act or result)

British and American spelling

Realization is the American spelling. British English spells it realisation.