Abnormalizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of altering perceptions or behaviors to make them conform to accepted norms or standards
2. The act of rendering something atypical or deviant into a state that aligns with established practices
3. Modifying a situation or response in a way that integrates it into the conventional framework of society

Etymology: "Abnormalizing" is the present participle of "abnormalize", a verb formed from "abnormal" and the suffix "-ize", which turns adjectives into verbs meaning "to make or become" the adjective's quality. "Abnormal" itself came into English in the mid-1800s, adapted from Latin "abnormis", meaning "irregular" or "out of rule", with the prefix "ab-" ("away from") added to "norma", a carpenter's square or rule. The word therefore began as a measuring image: something that falls outside the square. The verb "abnormalize" is far less common than its adjective, and its own meaning runs in the opposite direction to what the stem suggests. Rather than making something abnormal, it describes bringing something deviant back into line with accepted practice, so the prefix's sense of "away from the rule" is reversed by the verb's sense of pulling things back toward the rule. The "-ize" suffix, borrowed through Latin and Greek, is what allows the grammatical shift from adjective to action.

Synonyms: standardizing