NATURALIZE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Naturalize

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verb

Naturalize v. t. (past & past part. naturalized; pres. part. 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."

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Etymology of 'Naturalize'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Naturalize" Quotes from Famous Books

... my hand" on a new hexameter verse. With what success, I leave to those who are better able to judge than I. If I have failed, I have but added another failure to the numerous attempts to naturalize hexameter verse ...

— The Feast of the Virgins and Other Poems • H. L. Gordon

... that, for a people firmly attached to ancient customs, there can exist no other demonstration or means of persuasion than example. He purchased a considerable estate, and made experiments on those kinds of tillage that he hoped to naturalize in that climate. The sugar-cane, cotton, indigo and coffee soon demonstrated the success of his efforts. This success drew upon him the notice of the government. He was appointed director of agriculture and commerce ...

— The Ruins • C. F. [Constantin Francois de] Volney

... choice. A man is born into the nation as into the family. To belong to the English nation when born an Englishman is not usually considered so "greatly to his credit," except in the case of Mr. Gilbert's naval hero. 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. It is this natural relation which makes the nation worth ...

— The Arena - Volume 4, No. 20, July, 1891 • Various

... show the beautiful American ducks which he hoped to naturalize on the pond near the keeper's lodge: but, whistle and call as he would, nothing showed itself but screaming Canada geese. He ran round, pulled out a boat half full of water, and, with a foot on each ...

— Dynevor Terrace (Vol. I) - or, The Clue of Life • Charlotte M. Yonge

Words linked to "Naturalize" : modify, immigrate, tame, flora, accommodate, alter, domesticate, naturalise, naturalization