REALIZE

1. To make real; to convert from the imaginary or fictitious into the actual; to bring into concrete existence; to accomplish; as, to realize a scheme or project. We realize what Archimedes had only in hypothesis, weighting a single grain against the globe of earth. Glanvill.

2. To cause to seem real; to impress upon the mind as actual; to feel vividly or strongly; to make one's own in apprehension or experience. Many coincidences . . . soon begin to appear in them [Greek inscriptions] which realize ancient history to us. Jowett. We can not realize it in thought, that the object . . . had really no being at any past moment. Sir W. Hamilton.

3. To convert into real property; to make real estate of; as, to realize his fortune.

4. To acquire as an actual possession; to obtain as the result of plans and efforts; to gain; to get; as, to realize large profits from a speculation. Knighthood was not beyond the reach of any man who could by diligent thrift realize a good estate. Macaulay.

5. To convert into actual money; as, to realize assets.

Definitions