pixelate

English

Alternative forms

• pixellate

Etymology

From pixel +‎ -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Verb

pixelate (third-person singular simple present pixelates, present participle pixelating, simple past and past participle pixelated)

1. To divide an image into pixels, or to display an image in pixels.
   • 2009 August 19, Andreas Kokkino, “Best in Show”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     In a fittingly modern use of mosaic tile, Tord Boontje pixelates his signature floral designs in a new collection of storage furniture for Bisazza Home.

   • 2011, Rick Sammon, Confessions of a Compact Camera Shooter, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 26:

     I could have used the camera's digital zoom, but digital zooms tend to soften and pixelate an image.

2. To transform an image (or a portion thereof) into large pixels, especially in order to hide details.

   Synonym: blur

   • 2005 January 18, Dominic Timms, “Fearful US TV networks censor more shows”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Fox TV has decided to pixelate a bare derriere in a cartoon series, The Family Guy, which was originally broadcast five years ago with no complaints.

   • 2017 August 25, Mark Sweney, “Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis settle legal dispute with Mail Online”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher have reached a settlement with Mail Online that includes an agreement to pixelate photos of their children.

Usage notes

• Be careful not to confuse the simple past and past participle, pixelated, with the completely unrelated term pixilated.

Synonyms

• pixelize

Derived terms

• pixelation

Translations

divide an image into pixels

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: pikselöidä
• Galician: pixelar
• German: pixeln (de)
• Maori: whakapika, whakatongi, whakatongitongi
• Portuguese: pixelizar
• Spanish: pixelar

transform an image into large pixels

• Catalan: pixelar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 打馬賽克 / 打马赛克 (zh) (dǎ mǎsàikè), 打碼 / 打码 (zh) (dǎmǎ)

• Finnish: pikselöidä
• French: pixelliser (fr), pixéliser (fr), pixeliser (fr)
• Galician: pixelar
• German: verpixeln (de), pixeln (de)
• Hungarian: kikockáz
• Italian: pixelare
• Portuguese: pixelizar
• Spanish: pixelar

Spanish

Verb

pixelate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of pixelar combined with te