The word 'itemize' is a modern English formation, created by combining the noun 'item' with the productive suffix '-ize'. The noun 'item' entered English from Latin item, meaning "also, in like manner, likewise," which was used adverbially in medieval lists to introduce each new entry, thereby evolving to mean the entry itself. The suffix '-ize' traces back to the Greek verbal suffix -izein, which passed into Latin as -izāre and into English via French, specializing in forming verbs meaning "to render or make into" a specified state. Thus, the literal construction "to make into items" logically evolved into the modern meaning of breaking down a whole into its constituent parts for detailed listing or specification.

Structure: item + ize - item (Latin): A unit, article, or entry. In this word, it functions as the base noun meaning a distinct, individual thing. - ize (Greek via Latin and French): A verb-forming suffix meaning "to make, to cause to be, or to act in the manner of".