vocalization

UK: /ˌvəʊkəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/ US: /ˌvoʊkələˈzeɪʃən/

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

vo•cal•ize /ˈvoʊkəˌlaɪz/   v., -ized, -iz•ing. 

1. to make vocal; to make or produce sounds;
   articulate: [~ + object]
   to vocalize one's objections.
   [no object]
   dolphins and chimpanzees vocalizing.
2. Music and Dance [no object] to sing;
   to sing without uttering words.

vo•cal•i•za•tion /ˌvoʊkələˈzeɪʃən/  n. 

[uncountable] the process of vocalization.

[countable] some strange vocalizations.

See -voc-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

vo•cal•ize  (vō′kə līz′), v., -ized, -iz•ing. 
v.t. 

1. to make vocal;
   utter;
   articulate;
   sing.
2. to endow with a voice;
   cause to utter.
3. Phonetics
   • to voice.
   • to change into a vowel (contrasted with consonantalize).
4. Linguistics (of Hebrew, Arabic, and other writing systems that do not usually indicate vowels) to furnish with vowels or vowel points.

v.i. 

5. Music and Dance, Phonetics to use the voice, as in speech or song.
6. Music and Dance to sing without uttering words, esp. to warm up the voice, practice vowel sounds, etc., before a performance.
7. Music and Dance to sing scales, arpeggios, trills, or the like, usually to a solmization syllable or a vowel sound.
8. Phonetics to become changed into a vowel.

Also,[esp. Brit.,] vocalise. 

• vocal + -ize 1660–70

vo′cal•i•za′tion, n. 
vo′cal•iz′er, n.