commercialize

verb

com·​mer·​cial·​ize kə-ˈmər-shə-ˌlīz 

commercialized; commercializing

transitive verb

1

a

: to manage on a business basis for profit

b

: to develop commerce in

2

: to exploit for profit

commercialize Christmas

3

: to debase in quality for more profit

commercialization

kə-ˌmər-sh(ə-)lə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

Examples of commercialize in a Sentence

The company hopes to commercialize the drug next year.

Recent Examples on the Web

The process was originally commercialized for paper recycling, but beginning in January 2023, Epson started using it to convert used garments and mill ends into fibers from which new non-woven fabric sheets could be produced. — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 14 July 2026

The productivity boom everyone associates with the personal computer didn’t actually show up in the macro data until 15 years after the PC was commercialized. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 14 July 2026

Catnip, the euphoria-inducing herb beloved by felines, was known to have insect repellent properties, though it had never been commercialized for that purpose. — Paige Bruton, semafor.com, 10 July 2026

Much of this work has been achieved using the Large Helical Device (LHD) approach, which Helical Fusion plans to commercialize through a Helical Stellarator design. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 7 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for commercialize

• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise
• apologize
• capitalize
• categorize
• characterize
• conceptualize
• contrariwise
• criminalize
• decentralize
• democratize

Kids Definition

commercialize

verb

com·​mer·​cial·​ize kə-ˈmər-shə-ˌlīz 

commercialized; commercializing

1

: to manage for the sake of making a profit

2

: to use for profit

commercialize Christmas

commercialization

-ˌmər-shə-lə-ˈzā-shən 

noun