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I am a little confused when I should be using Optimalization or optimization. Some dictionaries say Optimization is a noun of Optimalization, but I have no idea what they mean by that.

Some of the sentences I would like to use it in:

  • I am writing an '...' plan for this project.
  • I am '...' the plan for this project.
  • Can we '...' the strategy before next meeting?
  • Can you write a '...' strategy before next meeting?

In all of these ways I am trying to make clear we are trying to make something better, improve it, perfect it. 'Optimizing' seems to be the word most used in my business, however it sounds rather awkward to me.

Summer
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3 Answers3

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Optimum is the base word, and optimize and optimal are verb and adjective forms, respectively (optimally being the adverb form).

It's redundant to "verb-ify" the adjective form of a base word, if there is already a verb form.

English has a number of patterns for turning base words into other parts of speech and probably at some point every possible permutation of base word and suffix has been tried and used somewhere. This doesn't mean you should start using uncommon combinations without very good reason and command of the language, though.

In particular, people who are trying to "sound smart" but aren't actually smart will tend to use words with a more than necessary number of syllables. For example, using the word utilize in resumes when use or other simpler words would work. Optimalize sounds like you're trying to do this. Avoid it even if some dictionary somewhere lists it as valid word, unless you are in a context where optimal has taken on a special meaning (I can't think of one).

LawrenceC
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    Utilize has legitimate utilizations, and incentivize is widely accepted in AmE, but I will heap scorn on valorize and conversate with my deathificationizing breath. – choster Jul 11 '17 at 22:18
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The status of 'optimalization' as a word is inconclusive even though you can find it in Collin Dictionary and Oxford Dictionary. So I recommend you not use it by any means.

Even Google detects it as a misspelling.

Bryan A. Garner in Garner's Modern English Usage considered it a non-existent word.

optimize (= to make the best use of) is the word, not *optimalize[...]

LANGUAGE-CHANGE INDEX
*optimalize for optimize: Stage 1,†
Current ratio (optimized vs. *optimalized): 7,885:1

† stage 1 means rejected

So if you want nominalize it, you must use the base "optimize" (NOT optimalize). So it should be "optimization."

J.R.
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Mohd Zulkanien Sarbini
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  • I don't understand how you can claim it's a non-existent word when it evidently exists. Besides, words have to satisfy certain criteria to enter dictionaries and, further, maybe the verb isn't that commonly used, but the noun is (which the book doesn't explicitly talk about). –  Jul 11 '17 at 13:04
  • @userr2684291 Perhaps 'non-existent' is too strong a word, but that's how I want it to be. I don't want the OP to use it at all since it's not widely accepted. If "optimalize" is not even a word, how can you attach the suffix to it to form "optimalization"? – Mohd Zulkanien Sarbini Jul 11 '17 at 13:10
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    Google detecting it as a misspelling is also not a valid reason. I've downvoted your answer, by the way. (: You could've called it an evil word then, which would be equally (in)correct. I don't know what you mean by widely accepted either – I'm gonna go with reputable dictionaries, not wild assumptions. Moreover, I never said optimalization has to come from nominalizing optimalize. –  Jul 11 '17 at 13:41
  • @userr2684291 - It's more than spell-checkers flagging it as a non-word. OneLook lists more than twenty dictionaries with entries for optimize, but only two with entries for optimalize. Ngrams can't find the word in published works. – J.R. Jun 10 '19 at 17:44
  • @J.R. Here's a third one. Once again, dictionaries (or rather the lexicographers behind them) are trustworthy on the issue of "word existence" because they apply compelling, long-standing criteria that decide whether a word ought to have its entry. Whether a word has fallen out of use is another thing. The Google Books Ngram Viewer can't find more than 40 occurences of optimailze, and hence doesn't plot it. It will happily plot optimalize. –  Jun 11 '19 at 10:56
  • Different dictionaries do have different criteria, however, but you can generally trust that if a word can be found in a dictionary, it's an established word (even if it's confined to a certain field). As concerns the word in question, it's a mistake to say it's not a word, or that it "doesn't exist" – it's been recorded and defined in reputable dictionaries – but that is not to say that everyone should use it, or that it should be used in every context. I just don't see any reason to lie to people about it. –  Jun 11 '19 at 11:08
  • @userr2684291 - Okay, nice catch on my typo; thanks. But still, Ngrams may plot optimalize happily, but it still barely registers a heartbeat. Anyway, I wasn't arguing that it wasn't a word, but I do think it's usually not the preferred word to use. – J.R. Jun 11 '19 at 14:25
  • @J.R. You can't compare apples and oranges. Those results don't expound on context anyway, which is why they're irrelevant in discussing the differences between the two words, and the same goes for Garner's comment quoted above. What they do show is that the word definitely exists. Only when you establish their common denominator – their meanings, words they collocate with, contexts where they're used – can you compare them. Think of optimalize as a word that's used in a specific field and means "optimize". There's plenty of such "fancy", "invented", but synonymous words. –  Jun 11 '19 at 17:00
  • @userr2684291 - No one seems to be arguing that the word doesn't exist. This answer links to two dictionaries which list it, and where the answer mentions "a non-existent word," that is clearly attributed that as one person's opinion (Bryan Garner). Rather than get into a protracted debate about the word's existence here in the comments, maybe it would be better to write a useful answer; ideally, such an answer would do more than assert that optimalize is a real word; it would provide learners with examples of when it should be used instead of optimize – since that is what the OP asked. – J.R. Jun 11 '19 at 17:54
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I would say, "optimalization" comes from other languages where they borrow from "optimal" word. This also seems true in British-English (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/optimalization). In American-English, I believe the only correct form is "optimization".

TheManWhoKnows
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