nationalization

¹ Cultural  

1. A government takeover of a private business.

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nationalization ² Cultural  

1. The taking over of private property by a national government.

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Explanation

Nationalization is when something that's been privately owned switches to being controlled by the government. In the United States, airport security went through nationalization in 2001, becoming a government agency. Nationalization is often viewed negatively in countries with capitalist economic systems, seen by some as a slide toward socialism or communism, in which nationalization partly serves to redistribute money among all citizens. At various times in the US, nationalization has occurred in areas like the railway system, utility companies, and banks. The Latin root word is nationem, "birth, origin, breed, or tribe," and the original meaning of nationalization was "the act of investing with a national character."

Example Sentences

Caracas’s 1976 nationalization of its oil industry, affecting Exxon, Gulf Oil and other U.S. and European companies, effectively ended a half-century of foreign supremacy of the sector.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

The oil major was awarded $10.5 billion plus interest by an international court after the nationalization of Venezuela’s oil industry in 2007.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 5, 2026

Either way, the election will close out an economic experiment marked by initial prosperity funded by Morales's nationalization of gas reserves.

From Barron's • Oct. 19, 2025

In the time of Hafez Assad, Bashar’s father, Syria was a socialist economy, with Soviet-style nationalization and tight regulation.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2025

They were also concerned about the idea of nationalization, insisting that the ANC and the Freedom Charter supported blanket nationalization for the South African economy.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela