Wednesday word of the week – standardise

When I checked my dictionary to see if standardise should be spelled standardise or standardize I found that both versions are acceptable. Either way it means to make something fit in with a standard.  Have you noticed that standardisation often seems to involve bringing everything or everyone down to the lowest common denominator rather than trying to raise them up to the highest possible level?

Standardizesstanderdizing and standardized should all have a z according to my dictionary, although not the spellchecker on my computer. That’s helpful.

standard is a level of quality, principles of good behaviour or a type of flag or lamp and the way some plants are trained. It can also mean the accepted norm or average.

One thought on “Wednesday word of the week – standardise

  1. The correct spelling is standardise. It’s from the English language. As usual, Americans have butchered the word and added a ‘z’. Unfortunately, the US has a strong influence on the world and people see their poor spelling and adopt it instead of looking up the correct spelling. US English is a misnomer.

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