Realize Means Both to Understand and to Make Real
To realize is to become aware of something. It also means to make something real, or to turn an asset into money.
To realize is to become aware of something. A second sense is older and more literal: to make real. A plan is realised when it is carried out, and in finance an asset is realised when it is sold and turned into cash. Both senses come from *real*.
- To become aware. *I realise now what she meant.*
- To achieve or make real. *Realise an ambition.*
- To convert into money. *The shares realised £40,000.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (UK) | realise | I realise that. |
| Verb (US) | realize | I realize that. |
| Past | realised | She realised late. |
| Noun | realisation | A sudden realisation. |
| Adjective | realisable | A realisable asset. |
How it is used in a sentence
- He did not realise the shop had closed.Understanding.
- The project realised its main aims.Achievement.
- The estate realised more than expected.Finance: sold for.
-ise or -ize?
- -ize — standard in America, and used by Oxford in Britain
- -ise — the usual British newspaper and general style
- Both correct — as long as you are consistent
- Always -ise — advertise, surprise, exercise, comprise
- Never a z in — analyse in British English
From French *réaliser*, from *réel*, real, from Latin *realis*. The awareness sense developed in English in the eighteenth century.
Realise or realize?
Both are correct in British English; realize is standard in America. Some words, such as advertise, only ever take -ise.
What does *realise a gain* mean?
To turn a paper profit into an actual one by selling. Until then the gain is unrealised.