industrialize

American  

[in-duhs-tree-uh-lahyz] / ɪnˈdʌs tri əˌlaɪz /

especially British, industrialise

verb (used with object)

• industrializes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• industrialized,
  past participle,  past
• industrializing
  present participle

1. to introduce industry into (an area) on a large scale.

2. to convert to the ideals, methods, aims, etc., of industrialism.

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verb (used without object)

• industrializes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• industrialized,
  past participle,  past
• industrializing
  present participle

1. to undergo industrialization.

2. to follow or espouse industrialism.

industrialize British  

/ ɪnˈdʌstrɪəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to develop industry on an extensive scale in (a country, region, etc)

2. (intr) (of a country, region, etc) to undergo the development of industry on an extensive scale

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• industrialization
  noun
• overindustrialize
  verb
• nonindustrialized
  adjective
• semi-industrialized
  adjective
• unindustrialized
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• industrializing
  present
• industrialized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• industrialize
  simple
• industrializes
  simple
• have industrialized
  perfect
• has industrialized
  perfect
• am industrializing
  progressive
• are industrializing
  progressive
• is industrializing
  progressive
• have been industrializing
  perfect progressive
• has been industrializing
  perfect progressive

Past

• industrialized
  simple
• had industrialized
  perfect
• was industrializing
  progressive
• were industrializing
  progressive
• had been industrializing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will industrialize
  simple
• will have industrialized
  perfect
• will be industrializing
  progressive
• will have been industrializing
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

industrialize industrializes industrialized industrializing

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

In effect, China is trying to industrialize hobby spending.

From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026

Countries that industrialized, prospered; those that failed to industrialize, floundered.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

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

Many of these bacteria are rarely found in people living in modern industrialized societies.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

By 2001 China had industrialized the same trade, and the machine had two engines.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

Instead, reeling from oil and gas price aftershocks from Iran, the industrialized world is now running toward renewable energy.

From Salon ● May 16, 2026

Despite the USPS’s recent price increases, the cost of a first-class stamp in the U.S. remains “the lowest in the industrialized world,” he added.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026

Even within the industrialized world, some areas are much more receptive than others.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

"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

But industrializing economies, particularly in Asian countries with inexpensive access to domestic coal reserves, have set longer horizons for their transitions.

From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 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

Related Words

• motorize