Externalizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Displaying or expressing internal thoughts or emotions outwardly through actions or speech
2. Making inner feelings or ideas apparent by communicating or showing them to others
3. Revealing emotions or mental states externally so that they can be observed or understood

Etymology: External is the root here, borrowed into English from Late Latin "externus" meaning "outward" or "on the outside." The "-ize" suffix comes from Greek "-izein," which Latin adopted as "-izare" and which then passed into English through Old French "-iser" and Middle English "-isen." Its earliest job was to turn nouns and adjectives into verbs meaning "to make into" or "to treat in a certain way," as in "civilize" or "modernize." Combining the two produced "externalize," a verb built on the familiar pattern of making something outward. Its sense of "to make inward thoughts or feelings visible" is a modern extension, and it is most common in psychology and everyday speech about people who express their emotions openly.

Synonyms: expressing, manifesting, revealing

Antonyms: internalizing, concealing