The process of giving something a definite structure, official status, or systematic form; making informal practices, relationships, or concepts into formal, standardized systems.
From Latin 'forma' (shape, form) plus '-ization.' The root emphasizes giving definite shape or structure to something previously shapeless or informal.
Every time a workplace creates an official policy for something people were already doing informally, that's formalization in action - it's like putting a frame around a painting that was just hanging loose!
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