digitalize
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb (Transitive):
- To administer digitalis (a heart medication) to a patient in a precisely controlled manner to achieve the maximum therapeutic benefit while avoiding harmful side effects. This is a specialized medical term.
- To convert analog information (such as sound, images, or data) into a digital format, represented as a series of binary digits (0s and 1s), for use, storage, or processing by a computer. This is the more common, general usage.
Usage Examples
- Verb (Medical):
- The cardiologist will carefully digitalize the patient to stabilize their heart rhythm.
- The protocol is to digitalize the patient slowly over several days.
- Verb (Technological):
- The library plans to digitalize its entire archive of historical newspapers.
- We need to digitalize these old VHS tapes before the footage degrades further.
Advanced Usage
- "To digitalize a business/process": This refers to the broader transformation of operations by integrating digital technologies, not just converting data.
- The company's strategy is to completely digitalize its supply chain for greater efficiency.
Variants and Related Words
- Digitize (Verb): Often used interchangeably with the technological meaning of "digitalize," though "digitize" is more common for the simple act of conversion.
- They hired a service to digitize the family photo albums.
- Digitalization (Noun): The process or result of making something digital.
- The digitalization of music has changed the entire industry.
- Digital (Adjective): Relating to or using signals or information represented by discrete values (digits).
- A digital camera stores images as data files.
Synonyms
- For the technological meaning: Convert, encode, scan (for documents/images).
- For the medical meaning: Administer digitalis, treat with digitalis.
Notes on Meaning
It is important to distinguish between the two primary meanings, as they belong to completely different fields (medicine and technology). The context of the sentence will always make clear which meaning is intended. In modern general usage, the technological meaning is far more prevalent.
Verb
- administer digitalis such that the patient benefits maximally without getting adverse effects
- put into digital form, as for use in a computer
- he bought a device to digitize the data