Mundanized

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make something ordinary or commonplace, often stripping away its unique or extraordinary qualities
2. To transform an experience or idea into something that feels typical or unremarkable, often through routine
3. To render an event or concept banal by integrating it into daily life, diminishing its original significance

Etymology: "Mundanized" is the past tense and participle of "mundanize," a verb formed by adding the suffix "-ize" to "mundane." "Mundane" entered English in the 1500s from Latin "mundanus," meaning "of the world," itself from "mundus," "world" or "universe." In that original sense, the word described the physical world as opposed to heaven, so a mundane matter was one concerned with earthly things rather than spiritual ones. The shift to "ordinary" or "dull" came later, as writers set the earthly against the celestial and gradually let the contrast fade into a sense of lowliness. The verb "mundanize" follows the same path, and "-ize," borrowed from Greek through Latin, is the ending that turns many adjectives into verbs meaning "to make [something] into" that quality. "Mundanized" is therefore a reverse of the older sense: something once set apart from the earthly is brought down to its level.

Synonyms: ordinary, common

Antonyms: extraordinary, unusual