Naturalize

Quick meaning: Naturalize is a verb meaning (transitive) To grant citizenship to someone not born a citizen.

Meaning

(transitive) To grant citizenship to someone not born a citizen.

More Meanings

1. (transitive) To acclimatize an animal or plant.
2. To make natural.
3. (transitive) To limit explanations of a phenomenon to naturalistic ones and exclude supernatural ones.
4. (transitive, intransitive) To study nature.
5. (linguistics, transitive) To make (a word) a natural part of the language, using the native homologue of each phoneme (and often for each morpheme) of the imported word (e.g., native inflections).

Example Sentences

Custom naturalizes labour or study.

English speakers have naturalized the French word "café".

In English, foreign words are typically written in italics until they are naturalized.

Its wearer suggested that pears and peaches might yet be naturalized in the New England climate.

Word Forms

• naturalizes
• naturalizing
• naturalized
• naturalise

Synonyms for naturalize

Depending on context, synonyms include paronymize, cultivate, domesticate.

Antonyms for naturalize

Common opposites include denaturalize, exile, expatriate, other, supernaturalize.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include domesticate, cultivate, naturalise, denizen, citizenize, denize.

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