verb suffix Etymology: Middle French -iser, from Late Latin -izare, from Greek ~in 1. a. cause to be or conform to or resemble , subject to a (specified) action , impregnate or treat or combine with , treat like , treat according to the method of , 2. become ; become like , be productive in or of , adopt or spread the manner of activity or the teaching of , Usage: The suffix ~ has been productive in English since the time of Thomas Nashe (1567-1601), who claimed credit for introducing it into English to remedy the surplus of monosyllabic words. Almost any noun or adjective can be made into a verb by adding ~ ; many technical terms are coined this way as well as verbs of ethnic derivation and verbs derived from proper names . Nashe noted in 1591 that his ~ coinages were being criticized, and to this day new words ending in ~
are sure to draw critical fire.