industrialize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
industrializes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
industrialized,
past participle, past
-
industrializing
present participle
-
to introduce industry into (an area) on a large scale.
-
to convert to the ideals, methods, aims, etc., of industrialism.
verb (used without object)
-
industrializes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
industrialized,
past participle, past
-
industrializing
present participle
-
to undergo industrialization.
-
to follow or espouse industrialism.
verb
-
(tr) to develop industry on an extensive scale in (a country, region, etc)
-
(intr) (of a country, region, etc) to undergo the development of industry on an extensive scale
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
industrializationnoun
-
overindustrializeverb
-
nonindustrializedadjective
-
semi-industrializedadjective
-
unindustrializedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
industrializesimple
-
industrializessimple
-
have industrializedperfect
-
has industrializedperfect
-
am industrializingprogressive
-
are industrializingprogressive
-
is industrializingprogressive
-
have been industrializingperfect progressive
-
has been industrializingperfect progressive
Past
-
industrializedsimple
-
had industrializedperfect
-
was industrializingprogressive
-
were industrializingprogressive
-
had been industrializingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of industrialize
First recorded in 1880–85; industrial + -ize
Explanation
To introduce factories or other kinds of manufacturing to a society is to industrialize it. When a country industrializes, it typically becomes richer but also more polluted. Industrialized regions are those places where industry plays a major role in the life and economy of the people living there, and to industrialize is to develop this kind of economy. Usually, this means adding automated ways of making things, such as factories and mills. Building a new manufacturing plant in a rural town could be said to industrialize it, for example.
Vocabulary lists containing industrialize
East Asia - Middle School
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
East Asia - High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Content Summary 5.3: The First Industrial Revolution
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
“As AI continues to industrialize, this will increasingly require advanced connectivity solutions, an area where Ericsson is leading.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Now, Beijing is trying to industrialize something stranger: humanoid robots that can assemble parts, inspect products, move boxes and eventually take on some of the repetitive work still done by humans.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
He expects to be able to commercialize them within one to two years and industrialize the process in another two to three years.
From Barron's ● Dec. 16, 2025
In South Korea, the country’s sprawling family-run conglomerates turbocharged the "Miracle on the Han River" by marshaling capital, technology and labor to industrialize the country at breakneck speed.
From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2024
In addition to the collectivization of farms, the Five-Year Plans also aimed to industrialize the USSR.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
But, as D’Souza rather proudly observes, the adjudication process is stripped of the inconvenience of courts: “The Gawker litigation took ten years and millions of dollars. Objection industrializes this process.”
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
“This trend is likely to continue as the Global South industrializes further and consumers have greater disposable income to spend on comfort.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2023
“President Magufuli is very committed to ensure that the country industrializes, but you cannot industrialize unless you have access to electricity,” Adesina told journalists on Saturday after his talks with the president.
From Reuters ● Apr. 28, 2018
“This is proof that when such a big country industrializes, its effect will spread everywhere.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2013
No big industrialized economy has embraced Chinese cars more enthusiastically than the U.K., where Brits like Thewlis are being won over by the combination of affordable prices with status-signaling styling and technology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
And it came about because more than half a century ago, when it appeared that the coast was becoming too privatized and industrialized, a citizen uprising led to the protections we enjoy today.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
By 2001 China had industrialized the same trade, and the machine had two engines.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
In industrialized countries, however, they have become far less common because of improved hygiene and modern medicine.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. homicides involve a gun, a far greater fraction than in other industrialized countries.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
"We're industrializing an easier way of forming sheet metal based on origami," says chief executive and co-founder, Jonas Nyvang.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
By 1910, the grip of agriculture had loosened significantly, as manufacturing emerged as a force in the industrializing economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025
Like West Africa, El Salvador is a past source country for the production of rubber, essential to an industrializing Europe’s historic colonizing abroad.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2024
When historians search for parallels, they often point to the period before the Civil War, when an industrializing North and an agrarian South were divided over slavery.
From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
Experience in the developing countries continued mixed, with the newly industrializing economies generally maintaining their rapid growth, and many others struggling with debt, rampant inflation, and inadequate investment.
From The 1991 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
