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naturalize - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'naturalize' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Naturalize [ v. i.]
- To become as if native.
- To explain phenomena by natural agencies or laws, to the exclusion of the supernatural.
2 . Naturalize [ v. t.]
- To make natural; as, custom naturalizes labor or study.
- 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.
- To receive or adopt as native, natural, or vernacular; to make one's own; as, to naturalize foreign words.
- To adapt; to accustom; to habituate; to acclimate; to cause to grow as under natural conditions.

Meaning of 'naturalize' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . naturalize [ v]
Meaning (1):
- adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment
Example in sentence:
  • domesticate oats;
  • tame the soil
Meaning (2):
- make into a citizen
Example in sentence:
  • The French family was naturalized last year
Meaning (3):
- adopt to another place
Example in sentence:
  • The stories had become naturalized into an American setting

Nearby Words:

nat natal natal plum natalitial natalitious nataloin natals natant natantly natation

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