What does "normalize" mean?
To make normal, to bring into alignment with an established standard.
Normalize
/ˈnɔː.mə.laɪz/ verb
verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To make normal, to bring into alignment with an established standard.
- Grammar: normalize is listed as verb.
- Nearest alternatives: adjust, adjusted, alining, anneal.
- Useful contrasts: extreme value, labile affect, local market disruption.
- Usage evidence: Don't normalize reactionary extremists by calling them "conservatives."
How to use "normalize"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "normalize" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "normalize" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "normalize" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "normalize" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "normalize" is acting as verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adjust" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "normalize", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To make normal, to bring into alignment with an established standard. transitive
"There is little hope that the two countries will normalize relations; their governments seem to hate each other and would just as soon stay on bad terms."
- 2 bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling wordnet
- 3 To consider normal, to treat as standard in the face of older norms. transitive
- 4 make normal or cause to conform to a norm or standard wordnet
- 5 To format in a standardized manner, to make consistent. transitive
"We'll need to normalize these statements before we can compare them."
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 become normal or return to its normal state wordnet
- 7 To become normal; to return to a normal state. intransitive
- 8 To reduce the variations by excluding irrelevant aspects. transitive
"After we properly normalize the measurements with respect to age, gender, geography and economic considerations, there remains little evidence of a difference between the two groups."
- 9 To return a set of points (switches) to the normal position. transitive
- 10 To return to the normal position from the reverse position. intransitive
- 11 To subject to normalization; to eliminate redundancy in (a model for storing data). transitive
- 12 To anneal (steel) for the purpose of decreasing brittleness and increasing ductility. transitive
"Charpy impact testing showed that the normalized steel in the tank shell of the punctured chlorine car had a fracture toughness that was significantly greater than the fracture toughness of the non-normalized steels of the catastrophically ruptured tank cars involved in the derailment of a Canadian Pacific Railway freight train in Minot, North Dakota, in January 2002. The steel in the Minot tank cars exhibited relatively low fracture toughness, and cracks propagated rapidly around the circumference of each tank. The higher fracture toughness in the Graniteville tank car contributed to the relatively quick arrest of the crack even though there was brittle fracture in its outer portions."
- 13 To divide a vector by its magnitude to produce a unit vector. transitive
- 14 To constrain a number's absolute value to be 1 at maximum. More generally, to constrain the magnitude of a mathematical quantity to be 1 at maximum. transitive
Antonyms
extreme valuelabile affectlocal market disruptionred display system
Example
"Don't normalize reactionary extremists by calling them "conservatives.""
Common questions
What is a synonym for "normalize"?
Common synonyms include: adjust, adjusted, alining, anneal, arrange, array.
How do you use "normalize" in a sentence?
Don't normalize reactionary extremists by calling them "conservatives."
How do you pronounce "normalize"?
Pronounced /ˈnɔː.mə.laɪz/.
Etymology
From normal + -ize.