Word
summarize
Phoneticssum·ma·rize
/ˈsəmɝˌaɪz/
UK spelling · summarise
Definition
v. to give a short version of a long story or text by only mentioning the most important parts.
v. to provide a concise account of the main points of a text or event. Transitive — requires a direct object representing the information being condensed.
Examples
“Please summarize the main points of the meeting.”
“At the end of each chapter, the author provides a short paragraph to summarize the key findings for the reader.”
“The executive assistant was tasked to summarize the lengthy legal brief into a single page of actionable bullet points for the board of directors.”
Examples
simple
“Please summarize the main points of the meeting.”
contextual
“At the end of each chapter, the author provides a short paragraph to summarize the key findings for the reader.”
complex
“The executive assistant was tasked to summarize the lengthy legal brief into a single page of actionable bullet points for the board of directors.”
Usage
The verb is transitive and takes a direct object. In British English, it is often spelled 'summarise'.
Pitfall
summarize about the book
summarize the book
Summarize is a transitive verb; it takes a direct object and does not require the preposition 'about'.
Etymology
From summary + -ize. From summ(ary) + -arize.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/summarize