naturalize

English

Alternative forms

• naturalise

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈnætʃərəˌlaɪz, ˈnætʃrə-/

Etymology

1585–95, from natural + -ize

Verb

naturalize (third-person singular simple present naturalizes, present participle naturalizing, simple past and past participle naturalized)

1. To grant citizenship to someone born abroad
2. To acclimatize an animal or plant
3. To make to appear more natural
4. To limit explanations of a phenomenon to naturalistic ones and exclude supernatural ones
5. (linguistics) To make (a word) a natural part of (the language)

Usage notes

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

Antonyms

• supernaturalize

Translations

to grant citizenship

• Finnish: myöntää kansalaisuus (fi), naturalisoida (fi)
• French: naturaliser (fr)

• German: einbürgern (de)
• Romanian: naturaliza (ro)

to acclimatize an animal or plant — see acclimatize

to make to appear more natural

• Finnish: luonnollistaa (fi)

to limit explanations of a phenomenon to naturalistic ones

• Finnish: selittää luonnollisella tavalla (fi)

linguistics: to make a natural part of a language

• Finnish: naturalisoida (fi)