decentralize
[dee-sen-truh-lahyz]
- to distribute the administrative powers or functions of (a central authority) over a less concentrated area: to decentralize the national government.
- to disperse (something) from an area of concentration: to decentralize the nation's industry.
- to undergo decentralization: The city government is looking for ways to decentralize.
Also especially British, de·cen·tral·ise.
Origin of decentralize
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for decentralized
Contemporary Examples
The Ottomans had managed Arabia through a decentralized system of provinces called valyets, run by governors they appointed.
Full-scale civil wars are giving way to fragmented armed groups with decentralized power bases in remote border regions.
We want a decentralized government that will give us more freedom to manage our own affairs.
Rather, his appeal proceeded (and still proceeds) from a radical message of individual autonomy and decentralized political power.
The emerging church movement, in particular, has embraced a kind of steady, decentralized growth that can seem CrossFit-ish.
Historical Examples
In fact, it is the most decentralized movement in the world today.
The I.W.W.Paul Frederick Brissenden
The whole proposition can be decentralized for the good of the service.
Letters from an Old Railway OfficialCharles DeLano Hine
He has a social consciousness and a social passion of his own, but it is decentralized, one might say.
PanKnut Hamsun
The plan is national in scope and operation, yet it is decentralized.
Under Four AdministrationsOscar S. Straus
New marches were formed, traversing the previous Lombard fabric and introducing divisions that decentralized the kingdom.
Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7)John Addington Symonds
decentralize
decentralise
- to reorganize (a government, industry, etc) into smaller more autonomous units
- to disperse (a concentration, as of industry or population)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for decentralized
decentralize
v.
1840 (implied in decentralized), probably a back-formation from decentralization. Related: Decentralizing.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper