verb transitiveWord forms: ˈheroˌized or ˈheroˌizing
to make a hero of; treat as a hero
Word origin
hero + -ize
heroize in American English
(ˈhɪərouˌaiz)
transitive verbWord forms: -ized, -izing
to make a hero of
a war film that heroizes the warrior
Also: heroicize, esp Brit heroise
Derived forms
heroization
noun
Word origin
[1730–40; hero + -ize]This word is first recorded in the period 1730–40. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: chenille, escapement, maximum, modernism, thesaurus-ize is a verb-forming suffix occurring originally in loanwords from Greek that have enteredEnglish through Latin or French (baptize; barbarize; catechize); within English, -ize is added to adjectives and nouns to form transitive verbs with the general senses“to render, make” (actualize; fossilize; sterilize; Americanize), “to convert into, give a specified character or form to” (computerize; dramatize; itemize; motorize), “to subject to (as a process, sometimes named after its originator)” (hospitalize; terrorize; galvanize; oxidize; simonize; winterize). Also formed with -ize are a more heterogeneous group of verbs, usually intransitive, denoting a changeof state (crystallize), kinds or instances of behavior (apologize; moralize; tyrannize), or activities (economize; philosophize; theorize)