Mundanizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make something ordinary or commonplace, stripping it of any special or unique qualities
2. Transforming the extraordinary into the routine and banal through everyday practices
3. Rendering experiences or concepts less significant by associating them with trivial aspects of daily life

Etymology: "Mundanizes" is the third-person singular of "mundanize," a verb formed in English from "mundane" plus the suffix "-ize." "Mundane" comes from Latin "mundanus," meaning "of the world," from "mundus," "world" or "universe." The Latin adjective contrasted the earthly with the heavenly, which is why the English word has long carried a sense of the ordinary as opposed to the sublime. The verb "mundanize" is a much later coinage. The "-ize" suffix, borrowed through Latin and Greek, was a productive way to turn adjectives into verbs meaning "to make [adjective]," as in "modernize" or "familiarize." Applying it to "mundane" produced a verb for the process by which something remarkable is gradually made ordinary. The word is a deliberate formation built from familiar parts, so its meaning follows directly from them: "mundane" supplies the sense of the everyday, and "-ize" supplies the act of making something so.

Synonyms: banalizes, trivializes, dullifies, ordinaryizes, commonplaces

Antonyms: elevates, enriches, enhances, celebrates, glorifies