Re"al*ize , v. i. To convert any kind of property into money, especially property representing investments, as shares in stock companies, bonds, etc.

Wary men took the alarm, and began to realize, a word now first brought into use to express the conversion of ideal property into something real. W. Irving.

Re"al*ize (rē"al*īz), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Realized (- īzd); p. pr. & vb. n. Realizing (- ī`zĭng).] [Cf. F. réaliser.]

1. To make real; to convert from the imaginary or fictitious into the actual; to bring into concrete existence; to effectuate; to accomplish; as, to realize a scheme or project.

We realize what Archimedes had only in hypothesis, weighing a single grain against the globe of earth. Glanvill.

"2. To cause to seem real; to impress upon the mind as actual; to feel vividly or strongly; to make ones own in apprehension or experience."

Many coincidences . . . soon begin to appear in them [Greek inscriptions] which realize ancient history to us. Jowett.

We can not realize it in thought, that the object . . . had really no being at any past moment. Sir W. Hamilton.

3. To convert into real property; to make real estate of; as, to realize his fortune.

4. To acquire as an actual possession; to obtain as the result of plans and efforts; to gain; to get; as, to realize large profits from a speculation.

Knighthood was not beyond the reach of any man who could by diligent thrift realize a good estate. Macaulay.

5. To convert into actual money; as, to realize assets.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913