Word origin
[1640–50; ‹ LL
contempor- (s. of
contemporāre to be at the same time), equiv. to
con- con- +
tempor- (s. of
tempus time) +
-ize]This word is first recorded in the period 1640–50. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: differential, elevator, generator, handicap, toniccon- is a prefix meaning “with,” “together,” “in association,” and (with intensive force)“completely”. Other words that use the affix con- include: concrete, condition, congress, connect, contract; -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)