Standard Lemma guide

naturalize

verb · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈnæt͡ʃəɹəˌlaɪz/
  • /ˈnæt͡ʃɹəˌlaɪz/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: N AE1 CH ER0 AH0 L AY2 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: N AE1 CH R AH0 L AY2 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To grant citizenship to someone not born a citizen.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To acclimatize an animal or plant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To make natural.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Custom naturalizes labour or study.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To limit explanations of a phenomenon to naturalistic ones and exclude supernatural ones.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

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).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

Examples

  • In English, foreign words are typically written in italics until they are naturalized.
  • English speakers have naturalized the French word "café".
  • English orthography often (but not invariably) drops the diacritics from words that it has naturalized from other languages.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: paronymize

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To study nature.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

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

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • domesticate oats
  • tame the soil

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: domesticate, cultivate, naturalise, tame

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: adapt, accommodate

8

verb

Meaning 8

make into a citizen

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The French family was naturalized last year

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: naturalise

Antonyms: denaturalize

Broader terms: change, alter, modify

9

verb

Meaning 9

make more natural or lifelike

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: naturalise

Antonyms: denaturalize

Broader terms: change, alter, modify

10

verb

Meaning 10

adopt to another place

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The stories had become naturalized into an American setting

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: naturalise

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: adapt, accommodate

11

verb

Meaning 11

explain with reference to nature

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: explain, explicate

History

Etymology

From Middle French naturaliser. By surface analysis, natural + -ize.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: натурализирам (naturaliziram) — to grant citizenship
  • Chinese Mandarin: 归化 (guīhuà) — to grant citizenship
  • Chinese Mandarin: 入籍 (rùjí) — to grant citizenship
  • Finnish: myöntää kansalaisuus — to grant citizenship
  • Finnish: naturalisoida — to grant citizenship
  • French: naturaliser — to grant citizenship
  • German: einbürgern — to grant citizenship
  • Hindi: नागरिक बनाना (nāgrik banānā) — to grant citizenship
  • Hungarian: honosít — to grant citizenship
  • Hungarian: állampolgárságot ad — to grant citizenship
  • Irish: eadóirsigh — to grant citizenship
  • Irish: éadaoirsigh — to grant citizenship
  • Irish: saoránacht a thabhairt do — to grant citizenship
  • Latin: nātūrālizō — to grant citizenship
  • Māori: whakatangatawhenua — to grant citizenship
  • Portuguese: naturalizar — to grant citizenship
  • Romanian: naturaliza — to grant citizenship
  • Spanish: naturalizar — to grant citizenship
  • Swedish: naturalisera — to grant citizenship
  • Finnish: luonnollistaa — to make to natural
  • Hungarian: természetessé tesz — to make to natural
  • Hungarian: magától értetődővé tesz — to make to natural
  • Indonesian: memperalami — to make to natural
  • Portuguese: naturalizar — to make to natural
  • Finnish: selittää luonnollisella tavalla — to limit explanations of a phenomenon to naturalistic ones
  • Bulgarian: заимствам (zaimstvam) — linguistics: to make a natural part of a language
  • Finnish: naturalisoida — linguistics: to make a natural part of a language
  • Hungarian: meghonosít — linguistics: to make a natural part of a language