naturalize

/'nætʃrəlaiz/ Cách viết khác : (naturalise) /'nætʃrəlaiz/

Thân thiện

The gardener works to naturalize wildflowers in the meadow.

Definition

1. Verb (transitive):

   • To grant citizenship to a foreign-born person: The legal process by which a non-citizen becomes a citizen of a new country.
   • To introduce and acclimatize (an animal or plant) to a region where it is not native: To cause a species to become established and thrive in a new environment.
   • To adopt (a foreign word, custom, or practice) into common use: To make something foreign seem native or familiar within a different culture or language.
   • To explain or interpret a phenomenon by natural causes or laws, as opposed to supernatural ones.

2. Verb (intransitive):

   • To become established as if native: To become acclimatized and thrive in a new environment (used for plants, animals, or customs).
   • To study natural history.

Usage and Examples

• Transitive Verb (Grant Citizenship):

  • After living here for ten years, she decided to naturalize and become a citizen.
  • The government will naturalize the refugees who meet all the legal requirements.

• Transitive Verb (Acclimatize Plants/Animals):

  • Botanists worked to naturalize the tropical flower in the temperate climate.
  • This species of bird was naturalized in North America in the 19th century.

• Transitive Verb (Adopt Foreign Elements):

  • English has naturalized thousands of words from French and Latin.
  • The festival was naturalized into the local culture, losing its original foreign context.

• Intransitive Verb:

  • Dandelions, originally from Europe, have naturalized all over North America.
  • The custom slowly naturalized and is now considered a local tradition.

Advanced Usage

• In a legal/political context: The term is formal and refers to the official legal process ending in citizenship.

  • He completed the application to naturalize.

• In ecology/botany: Often used in the passive voice to describe the successful establishment of a non-native species.

  • The plant is now fully naturalized and even considered invasive in some areas.

• In linguistics/cultural studies: Describes the process of assimilation where a foreign element loses its perceived foreignness.

  • The phrase has been completely naturalized; most speakers don't know its foreign origin.

Variants and Related Words

• Naturalization (noun): The process of becoming naturalized.
  • She celebrated her naturalization ceremony.
• Naturalized (adjective): Having undergone naturalization.
  • He is a naturalized citizen. / It is a naturalized species.
• Natural (adjective): Existing in or derived from nature; not artificial. (The root word).
• Denaturalize (verb): To deprive of citizenship or to cause to become unnatural.

Synonyms

• Acclimatize (for plants/animals)
• Assimilate (for customs/words)
• Acculturate (for customs)
• Enfranchise (formal, for granting citizenship)

Antonyms

• Alienate
• Expatriate (to banish or withdraw citizenship)
• Extirpate (to remove a species)

Related Phrases and Usage Notes

• "Become naturalized": A common phrase emphasizing the process from an intransitive perspective.
  • The idea became naturalized over several generations.
• The spelling naturalise is used in British English. Naturalize is the American English spelling.

Học thuật

Verb

1. adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment
   • domesticate oats
   • tame the soil
2. make more natural or lifelike
3. adopt to another place
   • The stories had become naturalized into an American setting
4. explain with reference to nature
5. make into a citizen
   • The French family was naturalized last year

Từ đồng nghĩa

• domesticate
• cultivate
• naturalise
• tame