realize

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To become aware of, understand, or appreciate (a fact or situation, especially something…

   To become aware of, understand, or appreciate (a fact or situation, especially something which has been true for some time).

   • He realized that he had left his umbrella on the train.
   • She desperately yelled at her young daughter, frantic to make her realize what she had done.
   • [S]he cannot realize the change we must undergo. She has no idea of poverty but in the abstract: she has only read of it in poetry, where it is allied to love.
2. 2

   To sense (something) strongly or vividly as if real.

   • That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.
3. 3

   To cause (something) to seem real

   To cause (something) to seem real; to make realistic; specifically, to present (something) clearly to the mind, a person, (archaic) oneself, etc., so that it seems real.

   • [I]t vvas ſo vvarm in my Imagination, and ſo realiz'd to me, that to the Hour I ſavv them, I could not be perſuaded, but that it vvas or vvould be true; […]
4. ›+ 16 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To convert (something imaginary or planned, as a goal or idea) into reality

      To convert (something imaginary or planned, as a goal or idea) into reality; to bring into real existence, to make real.

      • Near-synonyms: implement, execute; actualize, materialize, embody; accomplish
      • The objectives of the project were never fully realized.
   2. 5

      To achieve (one's) potential.

   3. 6

      To convert (an asset or property, especially investments such as bonds, shares, etc.)…

      To convert (an asset or property, especially investments such as bonds, shares, etc.) into a more easily usable form such as money, especially by selling the asset or property.

      • By realizing the company’s assets, the liquidator was able to return most of the shareholders’ investments.
      • Profits from the investment can be realized at any time by selling the shares.
   4. 7

      To acquire (money, a profit, etc.) by selling an asset or property, through trade, etc.

      To acquire (money, a profit, etc.) by selling an asset or property, through trade, etc.; also (followed by on), to make (money or a profit) on an investment, a venture, etc.

      • to realize large profits from a speculation
      • The tvvo Perſons here mentioned vvere of Quality, each of vvhom in the time of the Miſſiſipi deſpis'd to realize above three hundred thouſand pounds.
      • Knighthood was not beyond the reach of any man who could by diligent thrift realise a good estate.
   5. 8

      Of an asset or property

      Of an asset or property: to generate (a specific amount of money or interest) when invested or sold.

   6. 9

      To turn (an abstract linguistic object, especially a phoneme) into a speech sound…

      To turn (an abstract linguistic object, especially a phoneme) into a speech sound actually used in a language.

      • The southern /v/ is realized as the voiced approximant [ʋ].
   7. 10

      To obtain an entity from (an abstract group or structure).

   8. 11

      To arrange (a musical work written for a single performer) to be performed by an orchestra

      To arrange (a musical work written for a single performer) to be performed by an orchestra; to orchestrate.

   9. 12

      To complete (a musical work which is incomplete or not fully notated).

   10. 13

       Chiefly in Baroque music

       Chiefly in Baroque music: to play an accompaniment, harmonies, etc., based on (a figured bass).

   11. 14

       To have an actual or real experience of (something).

   12. 15

       To become aware of or understand a fact or situation.

   13. 16

       To cause to seem real

       To cause to seem real; to make realistic.

       • [Johann Wolfgang von] Goethe never sculptured an Apollo, nor painted a Madonna. He gives us only sinful Magdalens and rampant Fauns. He does not so much idealize as realize.
   14. 17

       To convert an asset or property into a more easily usable form such as money.

       • A lucky purchase which he had made of shares in a copper-mine added very considerably to his wealth, and he realised with great prudence while this mine was still at its full vogue.
       • Wary men took the alarm, and began to realize, a word now first brought into use to express the conversion of ideal property into something real.
   15. 18

       Followed by on or upon

       Followed by on or upon: to acquire money or a profit from the sale of an asset or property.

   16. 19

       With an adverb like badly or well

       With an adverb like badly or well: of an asset or property being sold: to generate little or a lot of money.

       • The estate is expected to realize well as it comprises many valuable assets.

The neighborhood

• neighborreal
• neighborrealism
• neighborrealistic
• neighborreality