colorize

verb col·or·ize \ ˈkə-lə-ˌrīz , -lər-ˌīz \

Definition of colorize

colorized; colorizing

transitive verb

: to add color to (a black-and-white film) by means of a computer

—

colorization

play \ˌkə-lə-rə-ˈzā-shən, -lər-ə-\ noun

Recent Examples of colorize from the Web

This one is colorized in shades of blue, purple and green.

— sarah kaplan, Washington Post, "Tapeworms are brainless, spineless, gutless parasites — and this scientist loves them," 2 Jan. 2018
The photos Marshall colorizes famously capture a moment on the cusp of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.

— marissa fessenden, Smithsonian, "Photographs Documenting the Struggle for Women’s Suffrage Are Reimagined in Full Color," 9 Feb. 2018
But several episodes have since been colorized over the years to further bring the zany, pioneering sitcom to life.

— andrew r. chow, New York Times, "What’s on TV Friday: ‘I Love Lucy’ and ‘Split’," 22 Dec. 2017
Even with this painstaking attempt at accuracy, however, the practice of colorizing black and white images is divisive in and of itself.

— meilan solly, Smithsonian, "Colorized Footage Is a Vivid Reminder that History Didn’t Happen in Black and White," 29 June 2017
Any app not on the whitelist (nearly all third-party apps) gets a boring, black status bar, while apps on the whitelist are allowed to colorize the status bar like normal.

— ron amadeo, Ars Technica, "Essential Phone review: Impressive for a new company but not competitive," 30 Sep. 2017
The image was captured with a Helios Nanolab dual-beam focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope at EMSL and colorized by Alice Dohnalkova.

— marissa fessenden, Smithsonian, "Scientists Make Art From Objects Invisible to the Naked Eye," 28 Feb. 2017
To mark the film's release, TIME commissioned freelance photo editor Sanna Dullaway — who has previously worked with photos of women's suffrage marches, Pearl Harbor and much more — to colorize images of the evacuation.

— Time, "Colorized Photos Bring the Real Dunkirk Evacuation to Life," 21 July 2017
The original film, since colorized, has become a Halloween TV staple.

— Philly.com, "George A. Romero | 'Living Dead' director, 77," 17 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'colorize.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of colorize

¹color + -ize

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1979

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up colorize? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

colorize

Definition of colorize

colorization

Recent Examples of colorize from the Web

Origin and Etymology of colorize

Seen and Heard

WORD OF THE DAY

thwart

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Test Your Vocabulary

Words at Play

The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 8/17/2018

9 Words for Places People Call "Home"

'Banana Republic': A History

The Many Plurals of 'Octopus'

Ask the Editors

Ghost Word

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Literally

Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

Word Games

Difficult Spelling Words Quiz

The Eponym Quiz

Name That Thing

SCRABBLE® Sprint

The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 8/17/2018

Difficult Spelling Words Quiz

9 Words for Places People Call "Home"

Trending: Brennan: Trump's Claims are 'Hogwash'

Ghost Word

colorize

Definition of colorize

colorization

Recent Examples of colorize from the Web

Origin and Etymology of colorize

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 8/17/2018

Difficult Spelling Words Quiz

9 Words for Places People Call "Home"

Trending: Brennan: Trump's Claims are 'Hogwash'

Ghost Word