nationalize
nationalize Lexical Profile
nationalize Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To transfer an industry, company, land, or other economic asset from private ownership to the ownership and control of the national government.
"Following the economic crisis, the parliament voted to nationalize the country's railway network and major utilities."
To make distinctly national in character, scope, or reach, or to bring under a unified national standard.
"The reform sought to nationalize the school curriculum so that students in every province would meet the same academic benchmarks."
To admit a foreign-born resident to the citizenship of a country.
"An early statute established the legal procedures required to nationalize foreign merchants who had settled permanently in the territory."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'nationalize' with 'naturalize'; in contemporary usage, 'nationalize' almost always refers to a government taking ownership of private industry, whereas 'naturalize' is the standard legal term for granting citizenship to a foreign-born resident.
• Rhymes for nationalize
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 18th century from French 'nationaliser', coined during the French Revolution from 'national' (ultimately from Latin 'natio', meaning 'birth, tribe, or nation').