化 as a suffix turns nouns/adjectives into verbs meaning 'to become/make X': 现代化 (modernize), 绿化 (make green), 简化 (simplify), 美化 (beautify). Very productive in Chinese.
usage
文化 (culture), 变化 (change), 消化 (digest) — 化 appears in many common compound words with different shades of meaning.
