standardize

verb

stan·​dard·​ize ˈstan-dər-ˌdīz How to pronounce standardize (audio)
standardized; standardizing; standardizes

transitive verb

1
: to bring into conformity with a standard especially in order to assure consistency and regularity
trying to standardize testing procedures
There ought to be a law standardizing the controls for hot and cold in hotel and motel showers.Andrew A. Rooney
These rectangular steel boxes, first used about fifty years ago, revolutionized the transportation of freight by standardizing the size and shape of the container, enabling it to be moved seamlessly from boat and barge to rail or truck.James McCommons
2
: to compare with a standard : to determine the strength, value, or quality of (something) by comparison with a standard
standardize a solution
standardize a voltmeter
standardization noun

Examples of standardize in a Sentence

He standardized procedures for the industry. the plan is to standardize the test for reading comprehension so that we can see how students across the state compare
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Mitigate this by standardizing APIs, using middleware and ensuring cloud services are compatible with legacy systems. Bhupendra Singh, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025 Members of a German solar industry association spent years advocating for the technology and worked with VDE to carve a path toward standardizing balcony solar systems. Akielly Hu, Wired News, 3 May 2025 Not unlike today, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw a flood of commercial, standardized, and reproducible images in billboards, newspapers, stamps, and more. Erik Zou, JSTOR Daily, 25 Apr. 2025 How universities got into the patent business The current system was born out of the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, which standardized federal policy to encourage university grant recipients to patent their inventions. Joshua M. Pearce, The Conversation, 23 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for standardize

Word History

First Known Use

1792, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of standardize was in 1792

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Cite this Entry

“Standardize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/standardize. Accessed 20 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

standardize

verb
stan·​dard·​ize ˈstan-dərd-ˌīz How to pronounce standardize (audio)
standardized; standardizing
: to compare with or make agree with a standard
standardization noun

Medical Definition

standardize

transitive verb
stan·​dard·​ize
variants also British standardise
standardized also British standardised; standardizing also British standardising
1
: to reduce to or compare with a standard
standardize a solution
2
: to bring into conformity with a standard
3
: to arrange or order the component items of a test (as of intelligence or personality) so that the probability of their eliciting a designated class of response varies with some quantifiable psychological or behavioral attribute, function, or characteristic
standardization noun
also British standardisation

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