Oxford spelling
Oxford spelling is a British spelling standard, named after its use by the Oxford University Press, that prescribes the use of the suffix -ize in words like realize and organization, instead of the -ise in some other style guides. This spelling is chosen to more closely reflect both the pronunciation and origins of the suffix in the Greek root wiktionary:-ίζω.
Oxford spelling is used by many UK-based academic journals and many international organizations. It is common for academic, formal, and technical writing for an international readership. In digital documents, Oxford spelling may be indicated by the IETF language tag en-GB-oxendict.
Defining feature
Oxford spelling uses the suffix ize alongside lyse: organization, privatize and recognizable, rather than organisation, privatise and recognisable – alongside analyse, paralyse etc. The Oxford University Press states that the belief that ize is an exclusively North American variant is incorrect. The Oxford spelling affects about 200 verbs, and is favoured on etymological grounds, in that ize corresponds more closely to the Greek root of most ize verbs, wiktionary:-ίζω.The suffix ize has been in use in the UK since the 15th century, and is the spelling variation used in North American English. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the ise form of words separately, as "a frequent spelling of IZE...":
The Oxford use of ize does not extend to the spelling of words not traced to the Greek, suffixes. One group of such words is those ending in lyse, such as analyse, paralyse and catalyse, which come from the Greek verb λύω, lyo, the perfective stem of which is : for these, is the more etymological spelling. Others include advertise, arise, compromise, chastise, disguise, improvise, prise, and televise.
In addition to the OUP's "Oxford"-branded dictionaries, other British dictionary publishers that list ize suffixes first include Cassell, Collins, and Longman.
Usage
Oxford spelling is used by the Oxford University Press for British publications, including its Oxford English Dictionary and its influential British style guide Hart's Rules, and by other publishers who are "etymology conscious", according to Merriam-Webster.Oxford spelling is the official or de facto spelling standard used in style guides of the international organizations that belong to the United Nations System. This includes the World Health Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the International Labour Organization, the World Food Programme, the International Court of Justice, and UNESCO, and all UN treaties and declarations, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Other international organizations that adhere to this standard include the International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission, the World Trade Organization, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Interpol, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Wide Fund for Nature, Amnesty International, the World Economic Forum, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Oxford spelling is used in a number of academic publications, including the London-based scientific journal Nature and all other UK-based "Nature"-branded journals, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, and the Journal of Physiology. It is used by The Times Literary Supplement, Encyclopædia Britannica, and Cambridge University Press. Newspapers and magazines in the UK normally use -ise. The style guide of The Times recommended -ize until 1992, when it switched to -ise. The newspaper's chief revise editor, Richard Dixon, wrote of the change:
In both the King James Bible and the works of Shakespeare, -ize endings are used throughout. Well-known literary works that use Oxford spelling include The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis.
Oxford spelling is not necessarily followed by the staff of the University of Oxford. The university's style guide, last updated in 2016, recommended the use of -ise for internal use.