ificare

ificare is an Italian verb form typically encountered as a productive suffix in the formation of verbs from nouns or adjectives, meaning “to make into” or “to render.” The infinitive form of the standalone verb is rarely used in ordinary speech and writing; more commonly, -ificare appears as the ending of longer verbs such as classificare, pacificare, sanificare, certificare, and identificate forms.

Etymology and function are centered on a Latin origin. The suffix -ificare comes from Latin -ificare, itself derived from facere, meaning “to make.” In Italian, this suffix has been productive across a wide range of semantic fields, enabling speakers to express the act of causing a state or property to occur, often in a transitive sense.

Common examples include:

- classificare (to classify)

- pacificare (to pacify)

- sanificare (to sanitize)

- certificare (to certify)

- identificare (to identify)

- gratificare (to gratify)

Usage notes indicate that -ificare verbs are typically transitive and may denote a transformation or rendering of the root concept into another state (for example, making something more orderly by classifying it, or making a condition more sanitary by sanitizing). The stem may undergo regular phonological adjustments in conjugation, but the pattern remains a standard part of Italian verb formation.

See also: Italian verb derivation, suffix -ificare, list of -ificare verbs, Romance-language verb formation.