the word 'summarize' is built upon the latin noun 'summa', which originally referred to the 'highest part' or 'total' of something, derived from the feminine of 'summus' meaning 'highest'. this core idea of 'the total, the essence' was carried into english in words like 'sum' and 'summary'. the addition of the verb-forming suffix '-ize', with its causative meaning 'to make', creates the modern sense of 'to make into a summary' or 'to extract and present the total essence'. thus, the literal action implied by the morphemes is 'to make into the highest/essential points', which perfectly aligns with the modern abstract meaning of condensing information to its most important elements.

Structure: summ (highest) + arize (verb suffix) summ is from latin 'summa', meaning 'the highest part, total, essence'. arize is a verb-forming suffix from greek '-izein', via latin '-izare' and old french '-iser', meaning 'to make, to become, to act with the qualities of'.