hospitalize

/ˈhɒspɪtəˌlaɪz/

//ˈhɒspɪtəˌlaɪz// verb

"hospitalize" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hospitalize” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To send to hospital; to admit (a person) to hospital.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hospitalize · hospitalize · English

hospitalize · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "H" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for hospitalize
PropertyValue
Headwordhospitalize
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈhɒspɪtəˌlaɪz/
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “hospitalize” in English

hospitalizesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hospitalize is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈhɒspɪtəˌlaɪz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for hospitalize, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From hospital + -ize. Piecewise doublet of hotelize. The correct English form is hospitalize, spelled H-O-S-P-I-T-A-L-I-Z-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To send to hospital; to admit (a person) to hospital.
  2. 2
    To render (a building) unfit for habitation, by long continued use as a hospital.
  3. 3
    To cause (a person) to require hospitalization.
  4. 4
    To cause (a person) to require hospitalization.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how hospitalize appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Shortly after World War I started, a painful arthritis in his knees hospitalized him.
  2. He fought on the ever-retreating front until July, 1943, without injury but then took a bullet in his helmet, his first wound, which hospitalized him for four weeks. […] ¶ […] ¶ […] Hospitalized again, he was later assigned to a supply unit until again hospitalized by a deep infection behind his knee.

Etymology

From hospital + -ize. Piecewise doublet of hotelize.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hospitalize"?
"hospitalize" is spelled H-O-S-P-I-T-A-L-I-Z-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɒspɪtəˌlaɪz/.
What does "hospitalize" mean?
As a verb, "hospitalize" means: To send to hospital; to admit (a person) to hospital.
How do you pronounce "hospitalize"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hospitalize" is /ˈhɒspɪtəˌlaɪz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "hospitalize"?
From hospital + -ize. Piecewise doublet of hotelize. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list