verbalize

Verbalize is a verb meaning to express or articulate something in words; to utter verbally. It can also mean to vocalize or articulate what one is thinking or feeling, especially when transforming nonverbal understanding into spoken language. The noun forms are verbalization (American English) and verbalisation (British English).

Etymology traces to the Latin verbum, meaning word, via Middle French verbaliser. The word is used across everyday speech, education, psychology, and clinical contexts to indicate turning thoughts, impressions, or information into spoken or written language.

In usage, one might say, “Please verbalize your concerns,” or “She verbalized her reasoning for the decision.” In psychology and education, verbalization refers to techniques that require or encourage speaking thoughts aloud or describing reasoning processes, such as think-aloud protocols used to study problem solving. In clinical settings, patients may verbalize symptoms to communicate needs more clearly.

In research and computing, verbalization can describe the process of translating nonverbal data into spoken or written language, or generating natural language outputs from models and systems. The term is distinct from verbal, which relates to words in general, and from nonverbal, which denotes communication without words.

See also: think-aloud, verbalization, articulation, vocalization.