Utilized

How to spell utilized

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce utilized

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does utilized mean?

1. verbMade practical use of something; put a resource, tool, or method to work.

Utilized in a sentence

• The team utilized every spare desk to fit the new staff.

• She utilized her lunch break to finish the report.

Where does utilized come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin adjective utilis, meaning 'useful' or 'fit for use', which itself grew from the verb uti, 'to use'. From utilis the French formed utiliser, 'to make use of', and English borrowed it in the early 1800s as 'utilize', adding the productive verb ending -ize that English took, by way of Latin, from the Greek suffix -izein used to turn a noun or adjective into a verb. The past-tense form 'utilized' simply adds the regular -ed ending. The same Latin uti root quietly survives in 'utility', 'utensil' and 'usual', so the core idea of putting something to practical use runs through the whole family. The chief spelling trap is the unstressed middle vowel, written 'i' but sounded like a faint 'uh', plus the choice of 'z' over 's' in the -ize ending favoured in American and Canadian writing and in Oxford-style British usage.

How the word is built

• util- (from Latin utilis: useful)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix, via Greek -izein)
• -ed (past tense)

British and American spelling

Utilized is the American spelling. British English spells it utilised.