immobilize
verb
immobilize is spelled I-M-M-O-B-I-L-I-Z-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 62,894th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, immobilize means “To render motionless; to stop moving or stop from moving” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in immobilize?
| Letters | 10: I-M-M-O-B-I-L-I-Z-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 62,894th 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 immobilize?
Immobilize appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 62,894th 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 immobilize?
- US
Immobilize 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: En-us-immobilize.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of immobilize
- immobilizes present, singular, he/she/it
- immobilizing participle, present
- immobilized participle, past
- immobilise
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does immobilize mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To render motionless; to stop moving or stop from moving.
It is best to immobilize the injury until a doctor can examine it.
- 2
To render incapable of action.
- 3
To modify a surface such that things will not stick to it
- 4
To tie up a capital: make a capital investment that makes that capital unavailable.
Don't immobilize your capital in aging accounts.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Immobilize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense render motionless:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | immobiliser |
| German | unbeweglich machen, immobilisieren |
| Portuguese | imobilizar |
| Spanish | inmovilizar |
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 immobilize come from?
From French immobiliser, equivalent to immobile + -ize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).