traumatize
Meaning
to cause (someone) to become very upset in a way that leads to serious emotional or mental problems
to inflict a physical injury or wound upon
Structure
Usage
the violent accident was enough to traumatize anyone who witnessed it.
some soldiers can be deeply traumatized by their experiences in combat.
the invasive medical procedure traumatized the surrounding tissue.
Etymology
The word 'traumatize' is a modern formation built upon the Ancient Greek noun trauma, meaning a physical wound or injury. This Greek term itself is derived from the pie root tere-, meaning 'to rub, turn, or bore,' which conceptually relates to the piercing or wearing action that causes a wound. The suffix -ize, of Greek origin, was productively adopted into Latin and later English to form verbs meaning 'to render or make into a certain state.' Therefore, 'traumatize' literally means 'to inflict a wound,' a meaning that has expanded from the purely physical in the 19th century to encompass severe psychological injury in modern psychological terminology, reflecting a deeper understanding of the lasting impact of shocking experiences.
Analysis
- trauma: from greek trauma (wound, injury). - ize: from greek -izein via latin -izare and french -iser, a verb-forming suffix meaning 'to make, to become, to subject to'.