Dictionary

sterilization en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From sterile + -ization or sterilize + -ation.

Meanings

1. (British, English, Oxford, US, uncountable) The process of treating something to kill or inactivate microorganisms.
   • Heat sterilization is used during canning so the food can be safely stored for long periods.
2. (British, English, Oxford, US, uncountable) A procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing.
   • Spaying a cat is a form of sterilization to limit the population growth.
   • One the most chilling parts of the film, which is available online, involves an appearance by Adolf Hitler. Ferrari shows how America’s sterilization policies inspired Nazi Germany’s leaders to launch their own eugenics program, which later led to genocide. 2018 October 16, John Blake, “When Americans tried to breed a better race: How a genetic fitness ‘crusade’ marches on”, in CNN:
3. (British, English, Oxford, US, countable) An instance of a sterilization procedure.
   • One of the most shocking aspects of the Chinese occupation is the forced sterilization of Tibetan women. In an article on this subject, the ICLT used my photograph of a nomadic woman with her herd of goats in the Ngari region of western Tibet. In many ways this is one of the more idyllic photographs I have taken. It is a wonderfully warm image that captures the woman in the late-day sun while in the distance yak-hair tents are scattered across a dramatic Tibetan landscape. The accompanying text shatters Shangri-la like a bullet through a stained-glass window: “Gross violations of women’s reproductive freedom are not uncommon in Tibet. Some of the most disturbing reports are of ‘blitz’ campaigns of mobile family planning teams, which have gone into remote villages of Tibet and carried out forced abortions and sterilizations of virtually every woman of child bearing age, regardless of the number of children, age, or health. These barbaric practices, says the Chinese Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala, ‘constitute an immediate threat to the survival of Tibetans as a distinct people.'" 1999, Art Perry, The Tibetans, Viking Studio, →ISBN, pages 23–24:
   • The vet performed several sterilizations this week.
   • The eugenics mania that swept the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to forced sterilizations and the passage of laws in 27 states designed to limit the numbers of those considered genetically unfit: immigrants, Jews, African-Americans, the mentally ill and those deemed “morally delinquent.” 2018 October 16, John Blake, “When Americans tried to breed a better race: How a genetic fitness ‘crusade’ marches on”, in CNN:
4. (British, English, Oxford, US, uncountable) A monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention.
   • The Federal Reserve is responsible for foreign exchange sterilization.
5. (British, English, Oxford, US, uncountable) The process of permanently rendering a planet like Earth completely uninhabitable to all life, including even microbes, leading to their complete extinction.
   • In about 1 billion years, the increasing heat from the Sun as it gradually ages, by triggering a runaway greenhouse effect that will boil away the oceans, will lead to the complete sterilization of all life on Earth.

Forms

Deriveds

photosterilization · radiosterilization · autosterilization · chemosterilization · resterilization · immunosterilization · desterilization

Relateds

autoclave · sanitization · sterilize

Translations (75)

tr sterilizasyon (instance of a sterilization procedure) · bg кастриране (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · fi sterilointi (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · nl sterilisatie (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · fr stérilisation (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · ca esterilització (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · pt esterilização (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · cmn 滅菌 /灭菌 (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · ru обеззара́живание (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · bg обеззаразяване (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · id sterilisasi (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · es esterilización (monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention) · es esterilización (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · ko 멸균 (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · ja 殺菌 (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · de Sterilisierung (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · pl odkażanie (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · ro sterilizație (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · cs sterilizace (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · tl sabaog (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · it sterilizzazione (instance of a sterilization procedure) · es esterilización (instance of a sterilization procedure) · ru стерилиза́ция (instance of a sterilization procedure) · nl sterilisatie (monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention) · ms pemandulan (instance of a sterilization procedure) · ga steiriliúchán (instance of a sterilization procedure) · ms pemandulan (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · it sterilizzazione (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · eo steriligo (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · pl sterylizacja (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · ko 균깡그리죽이기 (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · es esterilización (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · de Sterilisation (monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention) · ms pensterilan (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · uk стериліза́ція (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · ga aimridiú (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · cmn 絕育 /绝育 (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · bg стерилизация (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · eo malfekundigo (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · ro sterilizație (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · sv sterilisering (instance of a sterilization procedure) · pl wyjaławianie (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · kk залалсыздандыру (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · it sterilizzazione (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · sv sterilisering (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · tr sterilizasyon (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · uk стериліза́ція (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · ru стерилиза́ция (monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention) · ja 断種 (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · ro sterilizare (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · ga steiriliú (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · ru стерилиза́ция (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · ca esterilització (instance of a sterilization procedure) · pl sterylizacja (monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention) · de Sterilisation (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · ro sterilizare (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · kk зарарсыздандыру (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · sv sterilisering (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · hu sterilizálás (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · pl sterylizacja (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · uk стериліза́ція (instance of a sterilization procedure) · ro sterilizare (instance of a sterilization procedure) · de Sterilisation (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · pt esterilização (instance of a sterilization procedure) · pt esterilização (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · tr sterilizasyon (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · bg стерилизация (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · ca esterilització (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · uk стериліза́ція (monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention) · ru стерилиза́ция (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · cmn 殺菌 /杀菌 (process of treating something to kill microorganisms) · de Sterilisation (instance of a sterilization procedure) · fr stérilisation (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · fi sterilisaatio (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing) · pl ubezpłodnienie (procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing)