Pseudonymize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Replace the real names or identifying details in data or a text with invented substitutes to protect the privacy of the people involved
2. Swap genuine identities for fictitious labels so that individuals in a dataset or document cannot be easily recognized
3. Conceal the true identity of people or records by substituting made-up names or codes for the original identifying information

Etymology: "Pseudonymize" is a modern formation, built in English by adding the suffix "-ize" to "pseudonym," on the pattern of "anonymize." The older base word comes from ancient Greek: "pseudṓnumos" meant "bearing a false name," combining "pseudḗs" ("false") with "ónoma" ("name"). Latin took it as "pseudonymus," and English adopted the adjective "pseudonymous" and the noun "pseudonym" from there. The verb is a much later creation. Its suffix "-ize" comes through Late Latin "-izāre" and Greek "-izein," a way of turning a noun or adjective into a verb meaning "to make into" or "to treat in a certain way." Attaching it to "pseudonym" produces a verb for the act of replacing real identifying names with invented ones, a process most often discussed in data privacy and research ethics, where the word is now standard.

Synonyms: anonymize, anonymise, pseudonymise, depersonalize

Antonyms: identify, deanonymize, reidentify