make it so

verb

To cause something to be the case, to cause something to happen.

“Picard: Make it so, Number One!”

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Meanings

verbmake it so (third-person singular simple present makes it so, present participle making it so, simple past and past participle made it so)

present singular third person makes it so · participle present making it so · participle past made it so · past made it so

  1. transitiveTo cause something to be the case, to cause something to happen.

    Picard: Make it so, Number One!

    2 more examples

    "It's twelve o'clock, sir" said the master, touching his hat, with his quadrant in his hand. "Make it so, and pipe to dinner."

    1832, Frederick Marryat, Newton Forster or, the Merchant Service, page 74

    Riker: I suggest we beam a section aboard for analysis.

Origin

Originally an imperative phrase used by British naval officers as a command, dating from no later than the Napoleonic Wars, and perhaps earlier. Popularized as the catchphrase of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

make it so. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20it%20so

MLA

“make it so.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20it%20so. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “make it so,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20it%20so.

Source: make it so on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.