To reduce a system, theory, or field of study to a set of fundamental, self-evident principles or axioms.
From 'axiom' plus the verb-forming suffix '-ize' (to make or become). This technical verb became common in mathematics and philosophy during the 20th century.
When Euclid axiomatized geometry, he distilled thousands of spatial observations into just five basic truths—everything else in geometry flows from those five principles.
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