Library / English Dictionary

NATURALIZE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment

Example:

tame the soil

Synonyms:

cultivate; domesticate; naturalise; naturalize; tame

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "naturalize" is one way to...):

accommodate; adapt (make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose)

Domain category:

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

naturalization (the introduction of animals or plants to places where they flourish but are not indigenous)

naturalization (the quality of being brought into conformity with nature)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make into a citizen

Example:

The French family was naturalized last year

Synonyms:

naturalise; naturalize

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "naturalize" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

"Naturalize" entails doing...:

immigrate (come into a new country and change residency)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Antonym:

denaturalize (strip of the rights and duties of citizenship)

Derivation:

naturalization (the proceeding whereby a foreigner is granted citizenship)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make more natural or lifelike

Synonyms:

naturalise; naturalize

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "naturalize" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

denaturalize (make less natural or unnatural)

Derivation:

naturalization (the quality of being brought into conformity with nature)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Adopt to another place

Example:

The stories had become naturalized into an American setting

Synonyms:

naturalise; naturalize

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "naturalize" is one way to...):

accommodate; adapt (make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

naturalization (changing the pronunciation of a borrowed word to agree with the borrowers' phonology)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Explain with reference to nature

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "naturalize" is one way to...):

explain; explicate (make plain and comprehensible)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits