optimization
noun
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Optimization started its gradual perfection in mid-19th-century English, when it was derived from optimize, a word first used in the early part of that same century with the meaning "to make the best or most of." In basic applications, optimization refers to the act or process of making something as good as it can be. In the 21st century, it has seen much use in technical contexts having to do with attaining the best possible functionality, as in "network optimization" and "search engine optimization" (SEO). Like the words optimum and optimism (which refer, respectively, to the amount or degree of something that is best or most effective, and to a feeling or belief that good things will happen in the future), optimize and optimization derive from Latin optimus, meaning "best."
Examples of optimization in a Sentence
Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Quantum computing, once theoretical, is now being harnessed to tackle previously unsolvable problems in fluid dynamics, design of new molecules and materials, and energy optimization.
—CBS News, 22 Jan. 2026
These elements could not be separated, so the development progressed through interlinked optimization stages.
—Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 21 Jan. 2026
If a business needs to quickly pivot, this data accessibility creates room for optimization.
—Wyles Daniel, Ascend Agency, 2 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for optimization
Cite this Entry
“Optimization.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/optimization. Accessed 24 Jan. 2026.
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