familiarize
/fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/verb
familiarize is spelled F-A-M-I-L-I-A-R-I-Z-E: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, familiarize means “To make or become familiar with something or someone” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in familiarize?
| Letters | 11: F-A-M-I-L-I-A-R-I-Z-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th 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 familiarize?
Familiarize appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th 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 familiarize?
- /fəˈmɪliəɹaɪ̯z/
- /fəˈmɪljəɹaɪ̯z/
Familiarize has 4 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)-Vealhurl-familiarize.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of familiarize
- familiarizes present, singular, he/she/it
- familiarizing participle, present
- familiarized participle, past
- familiarise
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does familiarize mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
BritishUSTo make or become familiar with something or someone.
I took some time to familiarize myself with the layout of her kitchen before I got to cooking for her.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Familiarize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense make or become familiar with something or someone:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | familiariser |
| German | sich bekanntmachen |
| Portuguese | familiarizar |
| Spanish | familiarizar |
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 familiarize come from?
From familiar + -ize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).