naturalize Meaning, Definition & Usage

verb make into a citizen
naturalise.
- The French family was naturalized last year
verb explain with reference to nature
verb adopt to another place
naturalise.
- The stories had become naturalized into an American setting
verb make more natural or lifelike
naturalise.
verb adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment
cultivate; tame; naturalise; domesticate.
- domesticate oats
- tame the soil

Cf. F. naturaliser. See Natural.

imperfect & past participle Naturalized present participle & verbal noun Naturalizing

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.
Its wearer suggested that pears and peaches might yet be naturalized in the New England climate. Hawthorne.

To become as if native.
To explain phenomena by natural agencies or laws, to the exclusion of the supernatural.
Infected by this naturalizing tendency. H. Bushnell.