Verticalizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Making something upright or perpendicular to the ground or a horizontal plane
2. Causing something to assume a vertical orientation or position aligned with gravity
3. Transforming something into a vertical arrangement or state from a different angle

Etymology: "Verticalizing" is the present participle of "verticalize," which is formed from "vertical" plus the suffix "-ize," meaning to make or to cause to become something. The base word "vertical" traces back to the Late Latin "verticalis," from "vertex," the crown or highest point of the head, and ultimately from the Latin verb "vertere," to turn. Something vertical is thus, etymologically, something turned toward the highest point, the zenith overhead. The suffix "-ize" comes from Greek "-izein," which Latin adopted as "-izare" and which entered English through French and medieval Latin. Attaching it to an adjective produces a verb meaning to bring something into a particular state, so "verticalize" means to make something vertical, as in arranging components upright or organizing a structure along a vertical axis.