carbonize
/ˈkɑɹ.bən.aɪz/verb
carbonize is spelled C-A-R-B-O-N-I-Z-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 74 million words in written English, the 272,462nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, carbonize means “To turn something to carbon, especially by heating it; to scorch or blacken” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in carbonize?
| Letters | 9: C-A-R-B-O-N-I-Z-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 74 million words; the 272,462nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is carbonize?
Carbonize appears about once in every 74 million words in written English, the 272,462nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce carbonize?
- UK /ˈkɑːbən.aɪz/
- US /ˈkɑɹ.bən.aɪz/
Carbonize has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Scelultrix-carbonize.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Qwertygiy-carbonize.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of carbonize
- carbonizes present, singular, he/she/it
- carbonizing participle, present
- carbonized participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does carbonize mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To turn something to carbon, especially by heating it; to scorch or blacken.
Near-synonyms: charcoalize, char
- 2
To react something with carbon.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Carbonize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense turn something to carbon, especially by heating:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | carboniser |
| German | verkohlen |
| Portuguese | carbonizar |
| Spanish | carbonizar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does carbonize come from?
From carbon + -ize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).