decolonize

American  

[dee-kol-uh-nahyz] / diˈkɒl əˌnaɪz /

especially British, decolonise

verb (used with object)

decolonized, decolonizing

1. to release (a country or region) from the status of a colony, or to allow (a colony) to become self-governing or independent.

2. to reexamine and make changes in (a subject field, tradition, etc.) so as to counter the belief that the culture of a colonizing power is more worthy or important than the culture of a colonized people.

   From seed cataloguing to sustainable fishing, Indigenous people are decolonizing their diets and preserving their folkways.

   There is a movement to decolonize the curriculum, urging Western academics to change their courses to better reflect the ideas and experiences of peoples from all parts of the globe.

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verb (used without object)

decolonized, decolonizing

1. to free a colony to become self-governing or independent.

decolonize British  

/ diːˈkɒləˌnaɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to grant independence to (a colony)

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Other Word Forms

• decolonization noun

Etymology

Origin of decolonize

First recorded in 1850–55; de- ( def. ) + colonize ( def. )

Example Sentences

She’s currently at work on a novel set in the American Southwest about sisterhood and decolonizing identity through spirituality, ecology and art-making.

From Los Angeles Times

Conducting advanced molecular research in Africa on African fossils represents an important move toward transforming and decolonizing the field of paleontology.

From Science Daily

To Gladstone, “My pronoun use is partly a way of decolonizing gender for myself,” she said.

From Salon

Scheid focused on the period of 1920-1960, a defining moment for Arabs who were decolonizing from European mandates but could not return to what was before, an era that “reeked of Ottoman patronage.”

From New York Times

Whether or not you are Native, Lopes said there are ways for all Americans to further decolonize the holiday.

From Salon