Learn English – verb meaning “to make similar”

single-word-requests

I'm attempting to document a change that will make two things more congruent. I'd like to use a word in this way:

This change [makes similar] the two items.

The best I've been able to find by searching is "assimilate"; however, I feel that this word has unpleasant connotations in some cases and could be misconstrued. Is there a better word?

For a little more context on this specific situation: I'm making the interfaces of two different software libraries more similar. They're remaining separate libraries, but they do nearly the same thing and are now more similar in their behavior.

Best Answer

Normalize may be what you want.  The Free Dictionary defines it as:

  1. To make normal, especially to cause to conform to a standard or norm
  2. To make (a text or language) regular and consistent

(excerpted; emphasis added).  This can be used to refer to preparing things for comparison.  For example, if I know the weight of one thing in pounds and another thing in kilograms, I will convert one of them to the units of the other.

Homogenize means “to make uniform or similar”, or

  1. To make homogeneous.
    • To make uniform in consistency, …

Align is good, too, but I see somebody else posted that already.