privatization

C1 Topic:Business & Commerce

US /ˌpɹaɪvətaɪˈzeɪʃən/ UK /ˌpɹaɪvɪtaɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/ See IPA manual

noun Freq #43166

Meanings

1

noun
The transfer of a company or service from government to private ownership.

The privatization of the railways was a controversial political decision.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the transfer of a company... denationalization

Opposites

nationalization

Word family

Forms privatizations

Derived forms antiprivatizationdeprivatizationself-privatization

Related forms privatize

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.

prīvātus Latin

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Topics

Business & Commerce Word Formation & Derivatives

# privatization

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˌpɹaɪvətaɪˈzeɪʃən
**IPA (UK):** ˌpɹaɪvɪtaɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n
**Frequency rank:** 43166

## Meanings
1. The transfer of a company or service from government to private ownership.

## Examples
- The privatization of the railways was a controversial political decision.

## Antonyms
- nationalization

## Derived Forms
- antiprivatization
- deprivatization
- self-privatization

## Related Forms
- privatize

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: prīvātus

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Privatization is a 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. The historical chain includes prīvātus (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as antiprivatization, deprivatization, and self-privatization and related forms such as privatize. In present use it covers the transfer of a company or service from government to private ownership.

## Topics
- Business & Commerce
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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privatization

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