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Africanize

American  
[af-ri-kuh-nahyz] / ˈæf rɪ kəˌnaɪz /
especially British, Africanise

verb (used with object)

Africanized, Africanizing
  1. to replace the European or white staff of (an organization in Africa) with Black Africans.

  2. to bring under African, especially Black African, influence or to adapt to African needs.


Africanize British  
/ ˈæfrɪkəˌnaɪz /

verb

  1. (tr) to make African, esp to give control of (policy, government, etc) to Africans

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of Africanize

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; African + -ize


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

When Pope Paul arrived in Kampala, he heartily endorsed their moves, both toward autonomy and a more vigorous effort to Africanize the church.

From Time Magazine Archive

Instead of Christianizing Africa, so the policy runs, missionaries should help to Africanize Christianity.

From Time Magazine Archive

One thing the Pope clearly would like to Africanize is the ranks of the clergy.

From Time Magazine Archive

Bees in Southern California, originally from Europe, started crossbreeding with Africanized bees in the 1990s, said Orange County beekeeper Mike Henderson.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2024

The hives contained Africanized killer bees, a more aggressive subspecies of the insect, that have been known to swarm and kill human interlopers.

From Washington Times ● May 10, 2023

In other areas, monotheistic beliefs were blended with prehistoric religious practices to create truly unique cultural expressions, such as the Africanized Islam practiced by the Muslims of the Swahili coast.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

Harlow’s move away from búgalu to a jazz-influenced update on Rodríguez’s more Africanized conjunto sound — which added more trumpets and percussion like conga and cowbell — was crucial for salsa’s gestation.

From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2021

Creole is an Africanized French and must not be thought of as a mere dialect.

From Self-Determining Haiti Four articles reprinted from The Nation embodying a report of an investigation made for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. by James Weldon Johnson

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