v. rare. [f. late L. synōnym-um SYNONYM sb. + -IZE.]
1. trans. To give the synonyms of.
c. 1595. Carew, Excell. Eng. Tongue, in G. G. Smith, Eliz. Crit. Ess., II. 292. This worde fortis wee maye synnonomize after all these fashions, stoute, hardye, valiaunt, doughtye, Couragious, aduenturous, &c.
1697. Phil. Trans., XIX. 394. Our Common Garden Kind [of Snail] which I have Synonimized under No. 13.
2. intr. To be synonymous with.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Rez, Alluding to the signification of rez, wherewith Tondus almost synonymizeth.
3. To use synonyms; to express the same meaning by different words. Also in vbl. sb. and ppl. a.
1700. [W. King], Transactioneer, 36. He’s as successful in his Descriptions as in his Synonymizings.
1805. W. Taylor, in Monthly Mag., XX. 17. To synonimize is to express one thought in different terms.
1851. Fraser’s Mag., XLIV. 694. The creation of new words, with its synonymizing tendency.
4. trans. To furnish with lists of synonyms; to make synonymic. nonce-use.
1805. Perry (title), The Synonymous, Etymological, and Pronouncing English Dictionary:… being an attempt to synonymise his [sc. Dr. Johnson’s] folio Dictionary of the English Language.
