regularize

Regularize is a verb with several related senses. In general English usage, to regularize something means to bring it into a regular, orderly, or standard form, or to make its actions regular and predictable. It can also mean to regulate or control by rules or authority, often to conform to a law, policy, or standard.

In organizational and administrative contexts, regularizing a process or schedule means standardizing procedures, documentation, or timing so that activities follow consistent rules and expectations.

In immigration policy, regularization refers to measures that grant legal status or residency to undocumented migrants, thereby regularizing their position within the national framework.

In science and mathematics, regularization is a technique to constrain a model or stabilize an ill-posed problem. Common forms include L1 and L2 penalties, ridge or lasso regression, and more general approaches such as Tikhonov regularization.

In statistics and machine learning, regularization helps prevent overfitting by discouraging complexity, improving generalization on unseen data.

In other fields, the term may describe making a rhythm or schedule more regular, or bringing procedural rules into compliance.