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
Luke Harold, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Oct. 2025
These results reveal the true state of your brand’s online ecosystem and the strength of your SEO and generative engine optimization strategy.
—Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025
Knowing this, the military was intensely interested in optimization problems — that is, how to strategically allocate limited resources in situations that could involve hundreds or thousands of variables.
—Quanta Magazine, 13 Oct. 2025
Kerry McGawley, a professor and senior sports physiologist at the performance optimization company Orreco, recalls the pithy mantra recited to her by a professional Swedish cross-country skier more than a decade ago.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for optimization
Cite this Entry
“Optimization.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/optimization. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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