Dictionary

privatization en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌpɹaɪvɪtaɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• /ˌpɹaɪvətaɪˈzeɪʃən/ (US)

Etymology

Calque of German Privatisierung (with English -ation), derived from Latin prīvātus (“apart from the state; private”), with reference to post-First World War German economic principles. Popularized by Sidney Merlin in 1943, who was aware of the term reprivatization (used in similar contexts), already attested at the time.

Meanings

1. (British, English, Oxford, US, countable, uncountable) The transfer of a company or organization from government to private ownership and control.
   • The party, moreover, facilitates the accumulation of private fortunes and industrial empires by its foremost members and collaborators through ‘privatization’ and other measures, thereby intensifying centralization of economic affairs and government in an increasingly narrow group that may for all practical purposes be termed the national socialist elite. 1943, Sidney Merlin, “Trends in German Economic Control Since 1933”, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, page 207:
   • Coordinate term: denationalization
2. (British, English, Oxford, US, countable, uncommon, uncountable) The rendering of a thought or an idea, as private in scope.
   • Questioning the privilege of biology went hand in hand with a challenge to the privatization of the family and the notion that parents own children and may therefore treat them however they choose. 1988 February 14, Laurie Sherman, “All In A Day's Work”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 30, page 7:

Forms

Antonyms

nationalization

Deriveds

self-privatization · antiprivatization · deprivatization

Relateds

privatize

Translations (54)

ar خَوْصَصَة (transfer from the government to private ownership) · eu pribatizazio (transfer from the government to private ownership) · be прыватыза́цыя (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ro privatizare (transfer from the government to private ownership) · uk приватиза́ція (transfer from the government to private ownership) · bg приватиза́ция (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ms penswastaan (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ast privatización (transfer from the government to private ownership) · az özəlləşdirmə (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ca privatització (transfer from the government to private ownership) · tr özelleştirme (transfer from the government to private ownership) · pl prywatyzacja (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ru приватиза́ция (transfer from the government to private ownership) · kk жекешелендіру (transfer from the government to private ownership) · de Privatisierung (transfer from the government to private ownership) · hi निजीकरण (transfer from the government to private ownership) · es privatización (transfer from the government to private ownership) · uz privatizatsiya (transfer from the government to private ownership) · fr privatisation (transfer from the government to private ownership) · fa خصوصیسازی (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ml സ്വകാര്യവത്കരണം (transfer from the government to private ownership) · cs privatizace (transfer from the government to private ownership) · el ιδιωτικοποίηση (transfer from the government to private ownership) · hu privatizáció (transfer from the government to private ownership) · cmn 私有化 (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ja 私営化 (transfer from the government to private ownership) · sl privatizacija (transfer from the government to private ownership) · is einkavæðing (transfer from the government to private ownership) · vi tư nhân hóa (transfer from the government to private ownership) · pt privatização (transfer from the government to private ownership) · sv privatisering (transfer from the government to private ownership) · sw ubinafsishaji (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ja 民営化 (transfer from the government to private ownership) · hy մասնավորեցում (transfer from the government to private ownership) · lv privatizācija (transfer from the government to private ownership) · he הַפְרָטָה (transfer from the government to private ownership) · et erastamine (transfer from the government to private ownership) · mk приватизација (transfer from the government to private ownership) · hy սեփականաշնորհում (transfer from the government to private ownership) · sh приватиза́ција (transfer from the government to private ownership) · mr खाजगीकरण (transfer from the government to private ownership) · cmn 民營化 /民营化 (transfer from the government to private ownership) · fi yksityistäminen (transfer from the government to private ownership) · sh privatizácija (transfer from the government to private ownership) · gl privatización (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ko 민영화 (transfer from the government to private ownership) · it privatizzazione (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ka პრივატიზაცია (transfer from the government to private ownership) · nl privatisering (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ar خَصْخَصَة (transfer from the government to private ownership) · ka პრივატიზება (transfer from the government to private ownership) · lt privatizacija (transfer from the government to private ownership) · oc privatizacion (transfer from the government to private ownership) · sk privatizácia (transfer from the government to private ownership)