realization
Pluralrealizations
UK spellingrealisation
- 1The act of figuring something out or becoming aware of a fact or situation.
The realization that the deadline had already passed left the whole team scrambling.
Her realization of the danger came too late to change the outcome.
Similarawareness, recognition, understanding, discovery, awakening
Note
Awareness usually arrives here with a that-clause: you come to the realization that something is true, and the moment is often a sudden or startling one. The z spelling is the American form and also Oxford's British spelling, even though the French source, réalisation, has an s. The word itself is simply realize plus -ation, the noun for the act.
- 2The act of making something real, such as turning an idea, plan, or goal into actual fact.
The realization of the project depended on securing enough funding.
Years of research led to the realization of a working prototype.
Similarachievement, fulfillment, accomplishment, completion, attainment
Note
Here the word takes a plan, an idea or a goal as its object, joined by of: the realization of the plan. That same of can also carry the "becoming aware" meaning, as in the realization of the danger, so context does the sorting. What you bring about belongs to this sense. What you merely come to notice belongs to the other.
- 3The finished product that results from an artistic effort or creative undertaking.
The opera's staging was a bold realization of the composer's intentions.
Her piano realization of the old folk tune drew long applause.
Similarinterpretation, rendering, embodiment, expression
Less common meaning
- 4The particular way in which a phoneme is actually pronounced in real speech.
Practice
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Origin
This word comes from French réalisation, itself from Middle French; it is equivalent to realize combined with the suffix -ation.