Sterilisation or sterilization?
In American English write sterilization; in British and Commonwealth English, sterilisation. sterilisation is a noun meaning “Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of sterilization”; sterilization is a noun meaning “The process of treating something to kill or inactivate microorganisms”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) sterilization is about 5.1 times as common as sterilisation.
What is the difference between sterilisation and sterilization?
| sterilisation | sterilization | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | BritishUSThe process of treating something to kill or inactivate microorganisms BritishUSA procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing | |
| Example | none recorded | Heat sterilization is used during canning so the food can be safely stored for long periods |
| Forms | sterilisations | sterilizations |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | not recorded |
| Region | UK | UK, US |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words | 1.3 times per million words |
Sources: sterilisation and sterilization in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of sterilisation and sterilization
sterilization
- 1
BritishUSThe process of treating something to kill or inactivate microorganisms
Heat sterilization is used during canning so the food can be safely stored for long periods
- 2
BritishUSA procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing
Spaying a cat is a form of sterilization to limit the population growth
- 3
BritishUSAn instance of a sterilization procedure
The vet performed several sterilizations this week
- 4
BritishUSA monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention
The Federal Reserve is responsible for foreign exchange sterilization
- 5
BritishUSThe process of permanently rendering a planet like Earth completely uninhabitable to all life, including even microbes, leading to their complete extinction
In about 1 billion years, the increasing heat from the Sun as it gradually ages, by triggering a runaway greenhouse effect that will boil away the oceans, will lead to the…
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, sterilisation or sterilization?
sterilisation appears about once in every 4 million words; sterilization 1.3 times per million words.
sterilisation about once in every 4 million wordssterilization 1.3 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search sterilisation vs sterilization?
“sterilisation vs sterilization” is searched about 20 times a month on Google (Bing reports no separate figure) in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“sterilization vs sterilisation”, “sterilisation or sterilization”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.