historicize

verb

his·​tor·​i·​cize hi-ˈstȯr-ə-ˌsīz How to pronounce historicize (audio)
-ˈstär-
historicized; historicizing

intransitive verb

: to use historical material

Examples of historicize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Now, the institutionalization of the East Village space in 2019 serves to historicize this incredible legacy. Alexandra Bregman, Forbes, 4 May 2023 So often politicized and problematized and historicized and memorialized and so rarely, in today’s literary novel, simply described. Sam Sacks, WSJ, 10 Mar. 2023 There is perhaps nothing harder or less rewarding to historicize than a bruised ego. Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2023 It is used to historicize the conflict between the family and their nemesis, the white Landry/Boudreaux families. Tanisha C. Ford, The Atlantic, 7 Sep. 2022 Perhaps Fukuyama’s evolution is a cue to instead historicize liberalism as a regional ideology that has shaped a few large countries, over a few recent centuries. Krithika Varagur, The New Yorker, 25 May 2022 Keret said his father fought to humanize and historicize the Holocaust, to see it as more than a story of unmitigated oppression. Gal Beckerman, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'historicize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1846, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of historicize was in 1846

Dictionary Entries Near historicize

Cite this Entry

“Historicize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/historicize. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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