Word of the Day

: April 21, 2008

containerize

verb kun-TAY-nuh-ryze

What It Means

1 : to ship by a method in which a large amount of material (as merchandise) is packaged into large standardized containers

2 : to pack in containers

containerize in Context

The museum plans to containerize the pieces of the art collection until construction of a new exhibit area is complete.

Did You Know?

You can probably guess the etymology of "containerize" quite easily -- it was formed around 1956 by adding "-ize" to "container" to create a verb. "Containerize" didn't start out with the meaning "to put in a container," however. It originally meant "to ship by containerization" -- that is, to ship using a method in which a large amount of material is packaged into large standardized containers. The more general "pack in containers" sense came somewhat later, but it is now becoming more common. These days, for example, you might containerize a plant or your household clutter.