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Webster 1913 Edition


Naturalize

Nat′u-ral-ize

(?; 135)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Naturalized
(#)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Naturalizing
(#)
.]
[Cf. F.
naturaliser
. See
Natural
.]
1.
To make natural;
as, custom
naturalizes
labor or study
.
2.
To confer the rights and privileges of a native subject or citizen on; to make as if native; to adopt, as a foreigner into a nation or state, and place in the condition of a native subject.
3.
To receive or adopt as native, natural, or vernacular; to make one’s own;
as, to
naturalize
foreign words
.
4.
To adapt; to accustom; to habituate; to acclimate; to cause to grow as under natural conditions.
Its wearer suggested that pears and peaches might yet be
naturalized
in the New England climate.
Hawthorne.

Nat′u-ral-ize

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To become as if native.
2.
To explain phenomena by natural agencies or laws, to the exclusion of the supernatural.
Infected by this
naturalizing
tendency.
H. Bushnell.

Webster 1828 Edition


Naturalize

NATURALIZE

,
Verb.
T.
[from natural, nature.]
1.
To confer on an alien the rights and privileges of a native subject or citizen; to adopt foreigners into a nation or state, and place them in the condition of natural born subjects.
2.
To make natural; to render easy and familiar by custom and habit; as, custom naturalizes labor or study.
3.
To adapt; to make suitable; to acclimate; as, to naturalize one to a climate.
4.
To receive or adopt as native, natural or vernacular; to make our own; as, to naturalize foreign words.
5.
To accustom; to habituate; as, to naturalize the vine to a cold climate.

Definition 2024


naturalize

naturalize

English

Alternative forms

Verb

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

  1. To grant citizenship to someone not born a citizen
  2. To acclimatize an animal or plant
    • Hawthorne
      Its wearer suggested that pears and peaches might yet be naturalized in the New England climate.
  3. To make natural
    Custom naturalizes labour or study.
  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.
    English speakers have naturalized the French word "café".

Usage notes

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

Antonyms

Translations

References

  1. "naturalize" in Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc.