Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To grant full citizenship to (one of foreign birth).
  • intransitive verb To adopt (something foreign, such as a custom or a word from another language) into general use.
  • intransitive verb To introduce and establish (a species) in an environment to which it is not native.
  • intransitive verb To explain (an occurrence, for example) by natural causes in contrast to supernatural causes.
  • intransitive verb To become naturalized or acclimated.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To reduce to a state of nature: identify with, or make a part of, nature.
  • To make natural; render easy and familiar by custom and habit.
  • To confer the rights and privileges of a natural subject or citizen upon; receive under sanction and form of law as a citizen or subject. See naturalization.
  • To receive or adopt as native, natural, or vernacular; incorporate into ormake part and parcel of a language; receive into the original or common stock: as, to naturalize a foreign word or expression.
  • So to adapt to new conditions of life that those conditions shall appear to be native to the person or thing naturalized; to introduce and acclimatize or cause to thrive as if indigenous: as, to naturalize a foreign plant or animal.
  • In musical notation, to apply a natural or cancel (♮) to.
  • To explain phenomena by natural laws, to the exclusion of the supernatural.
  • To become like a native.
  • To become a citizen of another than one's native country. Also spelled naturalise.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To become as if native.
  • intransitive verb To explain phenomena by natural agencies or laws, to the exclusion of the supernatural.
  • transitive verb To make natural.
  • transitive verb 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.
  • transitive verb To receive or adopt as native, natural, or vernacular; to make one's own.
  • transitive verb To adapt; to accustom; to habituate; to acclimate; to cause to grow as under natural conditions.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb adopt to another place
  • verb make into a citizen
  • verb adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment
  • verb make more natural or lifelike
  • verb explain with reference to nature

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1585–95, from natural + -ize

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Examples

  • We use the term naturalize, that is, to make natural born, in the same sense.

    Christian Nurture. 1802-1876 1876

  • One way to naturalize is to toss the bulbs in the air, and then plant them where they fall.

    The Record-Courier - Top Stories JoAnne Skelly 2008

  • In almost every aspect of my life I feel the need to reevaluate and further "naturalize" my way of living.

    Creating a Sustainable World 2008

  • The very term "naturalize," with which we denote the initiation of a foreigner, is a confession that the nation is not a social contract but a natural relation.

    The Arena Volume 4, No. 20, July, 1891 Various 1888

  • As we grow accustomed to our techniques and artifacts we tend to "naturalize" them.

    amor mundi 2010

  • However, if FCBs keep heavily subsidizing the US Treasury with 1\% note auctions as the evidence (I will put up a comment on today's 5 year auction later) this week suggests, then the 2nd and 3rd quarters will begin to "naturalize" into more standard recessionary rather than depressionary conditions.

    The Wall Street Examiner 2009

  • Solomon wishes to "naturalize" spirituality starting from the standpoint that, in his words, "if spirituality means anything it means thoughtfulness" (p. 5).

    Rationally Speaking 2009

  • What's next … is he going to "naturalize" the vasectomy?! sign up by email.

    Green Options 2009

  • However, if FCBs keep heavily subsidizing the US Treasury with 1\% note auctions as the evidence (I will put up a comment on today's 5 year auction later) this week suggests, then the 2nd and 3rd quarters will begin to "naturalize" into more standard recessionary rather than depressionary conditions.

    The Wall Street Examiner 2009

  • Anyone who follows genealogy knows that the feds did not naturalize until late in the nineteenth century.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Feds May Sue Arizona Over Immigration 2010

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