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The expression "to unitize a vector" is often use in computational geometry. What does it mean?

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I would guess normalize. But I won't pretend I do any computational geometry whatsoever. –  tomasz Jul 1 '12 at 1:23
It is lamentable that different areas of mathematics develop different terms for the same stuff. This just contributes to siloization, which has not been good for the field. –  ncmathsadist Jul 1 '12 at 16:52

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Yeah, it's a perversion of normalize. If $v\not = 0$, we normalize v as follows $$w = {v\over \|v\|}.$$ Why this ugly neologism is needed is beyond me.

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To me, "unitize" seems like a better term -- you are modifying the vector to make its length unity. The term "normalize" isn't very descriptive. If a vector has unit length, in what sense is it "normal" ?? If vector's length is different from 1, is it then "abnormal" ?? –  bubba Aug 18 '12 at 5:24
Normalize is used in the sense of "standardize", as you might do with a normally distributed random variable to give it zero mean and unit variance. –  ncmathsadist Aug 23 '12 at 23:56

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