[fi.nal.ize] vt -ized ; -iz.ing (1901) 1: to put in final or finished form "soon my conclusion will be finalized --D. D. Eisenhower"
2: to give final approval to "finalizing the papers prepared ... by his staff --Newsweek" -- fi.nal.iza.tion n usage Finalize has been frequently castigated as an unnecessary neologism or as U.S. government gobbledygook. It appears to have first gained currency in Australia (where it has been acceptable all along) in the early 1920s. The U.S. Navy picked it up in the late 20s, and from there it came into widespread use. It is a standard formation (see -ize). Our current evidence indicates it is most frequently used in government, business dealings, and child adoption; it usu. is not found in belles-lettres.