Pixelize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To transform an image into a mosaic of tiny squares that simplify and represent the original visuals in a more abstract way
2. The act of changing an image so that it appears as a collection of small blocks, each symbolizing specific colors or details of the original
3. To convert an image into a grid of small square elements that alters its clarity and provides an abstract interpretation of the initial visual representation

Etymology: "Pixelize" is a plain formation: it combines "pixel," the name for the tiny individual dot that makes up a digital image, with the suffix "-ize," which turns a noun into a verb meaning to make or treat something in a certain way. So to pixelize is to turn an image into pixels, or, in its more common modern sense, to render a picture as a coarse grid of blocky squares. The base word has a more interesting history than the verb built on it. "Pixel" is a shortening of "picture element," a term that emerged in the 1960s in the context of early digital image processing. The verb follows the same logic, with "-ize" (also spelled "-ise" in British English) being a long-productive suffix that has attached itself to many technical and scientific nouns over the centuries, from "computerize" to "digitize."

Synonyms: pixelate, digitize, rasterize, render

Antonyms: depixelate, smooth, blur