Realizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Becomes aware of something or comes to understand it ; achieves or accomplishes a goal or aim ; converts an asset or property into cash or profit
2. Recognizes or comprehends a fact or truth ; successfully completes a task or objective ; transforms an investment or resource into monetary value
3. Perceives clearly or grasps an idea ; attains a desired outcome or fulfills an ambition ; turns possessions or efforts into financial gain

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "realizes" is that its core sense of making something actual is older than its sense of understanding. The root is the Latin "rēs", meaning "thing", "matter" or "deed", which traces back to a Proto-Indo-European word for goods or wealth. Latin built "reālis" from it, meaning "actual" or "real", and Old French turned that into "reel", which entered Middle English as "real". The English verb was then formed by attaching the suffix "-ize", which makes a verb meaning to make something into what the base word describes. The verb probably took its shape from French, where "réaliser" already meant "to make real" and also "to convert something into assets or cash". That commercial sense explains the third meaning, to turn property into money, which is the most literal of the three. Understanding and accomplishing an aim are the abstract extensions: to realize a plan is to make the idea actual, and to realize a fact is to make it fully real in your own mind.

Synonyms: understands, comprehends, discerns, recognizes, apprehends

Antonyms: misunderstands, ignores, overlooks, disregards, dismisses