sensitize

English

Alternative forms

• sensitise

Etymology

From sensitive +‎ -ize.

Verb

sensitize (third-person singular simple present sensitizes, present participle sensitizing, simple past and past participle sensitized)

1. To make (someone or something) sensitive or responsive to certain stimuli.
   • 1999, Michael A. Kaliner, “12: Anaphylaxis”, in Marianne Frieri, Brett Kettelhut, editors, Food Hypersensitivity and Adverse Reactions, page 257:

     Anaphylaxis is the syndrome elicited in a hypersensitive subject upon subsequent exposure to the sensitizing antigen.

   • 2002, Cecil Colwin, Breakthrough Swimming, page 117:

     Great emphasis should be placed on sensitizing the hands to the feel of the water, and the hands should remain sensitized throughout the workout. […] Swimmers should sensitize the hands at the beginning of every workout by swimming the first 200 meters with their fists tightly clenched.

   • 2015, Christopher James, The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes, page 441:

     Again, I strongly recommend that you sensitize your collodion-coated plates in a tank, rather than a tray, as it is safer, cleaner, and more process-efficient.

2. To make (someone) increasingly aware of, in a concerned or sensitive way.
   • 1974 April 13, “Media Message”, in Gay Community News, page 8:

     At least two stations have been sensitized towards the position gay media professionals […] have to take to protect their job security.

   Ever since the burglary, we've been more sensitized to home security issues.

3. (transitive) To render capable of being acted on by actinic rays of light.

Synonyms

• (make someone increasingly aware of): familiarize

Related terms

• sensitivize
• desensitize
• sensitive
• sensitization

Translations

to make sensitive or responsive to certain stimuli

• Bulgarian: правя чувствителен (pravja čuvstvitelen)
• Finnish: herkistää
• German: sensibilisieren (de)
• Hungarian: érzékennyé tesz
• Romanian: sensibiliza (ro)

to make increasingly aware of

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使意识到

• Czech: senzibilizovat
• Finnish: herkistyä (fi) (intransitive), herkistää (transitive)
• German: sensibilisieren (de)
• Hungarian: érzékenyít (hu), szenzitizál
• Italian: sensibilizzare (it)
• Romanian: sensibiliza (ro)
• Spanish: sensibilizar (es)

See also

• publicize

Further reading

• “sensitize”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “sensitize”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “sensitize”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.