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PlainSpell

utilise

/ˈjuːtɪlaɪz/verb

utilise is spelled U-T-I-L-I-S-E: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,418th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, utilise means “To make use of; to use” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in utilise?

Letters7: U-T-I-L-I-S-E
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 30,418th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is utilise?

Utilise appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,418th 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 utilise?

  • /ˈjuːtɪlaɪz/

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-utilise.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of utilise

  • utilises present, singular, he/she/it
  • utilising participle, present
  • utilised participle, past
  • utilize

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does utilise mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    UKTo make use of; to use.

  2. 2

    UKTo make useful; to find a practical use for.

  3. 3

    UKTo make best use of; to use to its fullest extent, potential, or ability.

  4. 4

    UKTo make do with; to use in manner different from that originally intended.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Utilise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchse servir de (to make useful, to find a practical use for), utiliser, faire usage (to make use of; to use), exploiter (to make best use of; to use to its fullest…), détourner (to make do with; to use in manner different…)
Spanishutilizar (to make useful, to find a practical use for)
Germannutzen, einsetzen, verwenden (to make use of; to use)
Portugueseutilizar (to make use of; to use)

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 utilise come from?

From French utiliser, from Italian utilizzare, from utile (“useful”), from Latin ūtilis, from ūtī (“use”). Attested c. 1810.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after utilise