sanitize
/ˈsænətaɪz/verb
sanitize is spelled S-A-N-I-T-I-Z-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, sanitize means “To rid of microorganisms by cleaning or disinfecting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sanitize?
| Letters | 8: S-A-N-I-T-I-Z-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 58,063rd 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 sanitize?
Sanitize appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd 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 sanitize?
- US /ˈsænətaɪz/
- US /ˈsænɪtaɪz/
Sanitize 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)-Vealhurl-sanitize.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sanitize
- sanitizes present, singular, he/she/it
- sanitizing participle, present
- sanitized participle, past
- sanitise
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sanitize mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To rid of microorganisms by cleaning or disinfecting.
- 2
To make something, such as a dramatic work, more acceptable by removing potentially offensive material.
Near-synonym: bowdlerize
- 3
To filter (text) to ensure it does not contain any characters that will cause problems for or be interpreted in an adverse way by the receiving system.
Remember to sanitize your query parameters to avoid SQL injection exploits.
- 4
To remove sensitive or personal data from (a database or file).
- 5
To revise (a document) in order to prevent identification of the sources.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sanitize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | assainir |
| German | keimfrei machen, hygienisch machen , sanitizen |
| Portuguese | higienizar, desinfetar |
| Spanish | sanear, sanitizar, higienizar |
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 sanitize come from?
From sanitary. By surface analysis, sanity + -ize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).