A quick check on google shows that the word 'proceduralise' is in common use, yet it doesn't appear in any of the online dictionaries I've tried. From time to time I have used it in my job, but was asked about it the other day by my manager.
So, is it a genuine word?
Whickerman Sun 04/05/08 18:23
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My foray onto Go Ogle produced 587 'hits' for proceduralise, whereas procedure elicited around 137 million, procedural around 12.5 million and procedurally in excess of 1.1 million.
Does this indication of the level of usage fit the meaning of "common use" (which itself returns 3.1 million hits)?
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I suspect it is an americanisation of the noun procedure : act; manner of proceeding/conduct
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Americans form new words from existing ones much more readily than we do, but this one doesn't seem to be making much headway - perhaps because it's a mouthful, perhaps because it's not clear what it actually means. What is it, make something part of the regular procedure?
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Yes, the word hasn't been dictionarised yet but it could be. There is no reason why a new word like proceduralise ( make into a procedure) can't be created.
That's how words such as standardise, incentivise and capitalise, came about. (Don't like 'hospitalise' though- that sounds as if the patient has been turned into a hospital)
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Induce, motivate, reward all mean much the same as incentivise..ie "I'll make it worth your while to..." Accordingly, I can see little reason for the last's use at all. The other three words you list - including hospitalise - Factor 30, at least have the merit of having been around for over a century.
There is no record of 'incentivise' prior to the 1960s and the first, rather oddly, was in The Guardian and not an American publication. Perhaps this is one we can't blame on the Yanks!
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Good answer Quizmonster.
Similar words that are in vogue where I work include operationalise and diarise. I dislike these words but language evolves and even where an existing word is perfectly adequate I'm not sure how we can stem the flow of new words. I think I might start using a made-up word like 'directionalise' and see if it catches on.
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