-ize or -ise? Either spelling is correct, in British English, for most verbs that end with this suffix: criticize or criticise; organize or organise; privatise or privatize. The -ize form reflects the original Greek spelling -ize, whereas the -ise form reflects an intermediate spelling in French, from which many of these words are derived. Many British people, British newspapers, and British English spellcheckers prefer the -ise form. The -ize form is, however, standard in American English and totally acceptable in British English, so that it has come to be regarded as the world English norm and, as such, has been adopted by most modern dictionaries and many British publishers. There are, however, a number of verbs that must end in -ise, e.g. either because they are related to other words with -ise spelling (such as advertisement) or because the ending is not the active suffix -ize/-ise at all but a longer element such as -cise (typically meaning ‘cut’) or -vise (typically meaning ‘see’): for example, advertise, advise, chastise, comprise, compromise, despise, devise, enfranchise, excise, exercise, franchise, improvise, merchandise, revise, supervise, surmise, surprise, and televise