What does metabolize mean?
“Metabolize” is a verb meaning to process a substance through chemical changes, especially in the body. A person metabolizes food, nutrients, alcohol, or drugs when their organs and tissues transform those substances into forms that can be used, stored, or eliminated. The verb can also mean simply to undergo this chemical process. In figurative language, people may say that they have metabolized information, an experience, or a challenging idea, meaning that they have gradually processed and incorporated it. Its use is more technical than the everyday verb “digest,” although the two words overlap in both biological and figurative contexts. “Metabolize” is useful because it captures transformation rather than merely consumption or understanding: something is not just taken in, but chemically or intellectually changed.
verbTo process a substance, such as food, a drug, or a nutrient, by chemical transformation in an organism; also, to undergo such transformation. In figurative use, it means to process, incorporate, or transform information, ideas, or experiences.
- To break down, transform, or otherwise process a substance through metabolic processes.
- To process, incorporate, or transform information, ideas, experiences, or other material in a figurative sense.
"The liver helps metabolize alcohol, converting it into substances the body can eliminate."
"People with certain genetic conditions cannot efficiently metabolize the drug."
"It takes time to metabolize a demanding new curriculum, but the knowledge eventually becomes part of how one thinks."
From breaking down food to processing a new idea, “metabolize” describes the transformation that turns an input into something the body or mind can use.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does metabolize come from?
“Metabolize” was formed in English by adding the suffix “-ize” to “metabolism.” “Metabolism” comes ultimately from Greek metabolē, meaning “change” or “transformation,” which is related to Greek metaballein, “to change” or “to turn.” The related words “metabolic” and “metabolite” preserve the same Greek root, while the modern English verb reflects the scientific vocabulary of the nineteenth century.
Related word forms
How metabolize is actually used
The word is especially common in biology, medicine, nutrition, and biochemistry, but it is also used figuratively for mental or informational processing. British English commonly uses the spelling “metabolise.”
Easily confused with metabolize
“Metabolize” is a verb describing the act of processing a substance, whereas “metabolism” is a noun naming the chemical processes involved.