Cinematize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To convert a written narrative into a film format that can be visually interpreted by an audience
2. To adapt a script or story into a motion picture that engages viewers through visuals and sound
3. To transform a story or script into a movie that can be visually presented to an audience

Etymology: "Cinematize" is built from "cinema" plus the verb-forming suffix "-ize," which English uses to turn nouns into verbs meaning "to make into" or "to treat in the manner of" something. "Cinema" itself is a shortened form of "cinematograph," the name given to the early motion-picture camera and projector, and it comes from Greek "kinema," meaning "movement," related to "kinesis." So the word's core idea is literally "to make into moving pictures." The verb's logic is therefore straightforward: a story written in prose is reshaped so that it can be seen unfolding on screen rather than imagined through words. The spelling "cinematise," with an "s" instead of a "z," is the British variant, and the two forms are interchangeable in use.

Synonyms: film, shoot