'utilize' originates from Medieval Latin and French, specifically the Medieval Latin word 'utilizare' and Old French/Middle French 'utiliser', where Latin 'utilis' meant 'useful' and the verb root is related to 'uti' meaning 'to use'.

'utilize' changed from Medieval Latin 'utilizare' and Old/Middle French 'utiliser' and eventually became the modern English word 'utilize' in the 17th–19th centuries.

Initially it meant 'to make useful' or 'to render useful'; over time it evolved into the current common sense of 'to put to practical use; to make use of'.