democratize
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of democratize
1790–1800; < French démocratiser, equivalent to démocrate democrat + -iser -ize
Explanation
To democratize is to make an organization more democratic, supporting a system in which all citizens have a voice or a vote. When you democratize your school French club, you allow every member to vote on each decision. You'll most often see the verb democratize in the context of world politics, when countries that have historically not been democracies change their governments to be more democratic. In many cases, other countries, such as the U.S., try to influence such governments to make this change: they democratize them, in other words. The word democratize comes from the Greek root demokratia, "popular government," from demos, "common people," and kratos, "rule."
Vocabulary lists containing democratize
We the People: Dem
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-cracy, -crat
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Comparative Political Systems
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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.
Democratize The Ideation Platform What you want to do is encourage great ideas to bubble up—from anyone, at any time.
From Forbes • Dec. 1, 2014
Best will be busy aside from that, signing his book “Crowdfund Investing for Dummies” and presenting along with his colleague Sherwood Neiss the panel “The Global Fight to Democratize Access to Capital.”
From Washington Post • Mar. 7, 2013
Definitions 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.
