To miniaturize something means to make a smaller version of it, usually much smaller, while keeping it fully functional. Engineers miniaturize computers, fitting thousands of times more computing power into your phone than existed in room-sized computers from the 1960s. Scientists miniaturize medical devices so doctors can use tiny cameras to see inside the human body without major surgery.

Miniaturization often requires clever engineering. When toymakers miniaturize a car, they just make everything proportionally smaller. But when engineers miniaturize electronics, they have to redesign how components work at a tiny scale. The circuits in a modern computer chip are so miniaturized that thousands of them could fit across the width of a human hair.

Today we use miniature as both a noun (a small version of something) and an adjective (miniature golf uses a miniaturized course). When you miniaturize something, you're creating that miniature version, turning the complex challenge of “how do we make this tiny but working?” into reality.