nationalization

¹ Cultural  

1. A government takeover of a private business.

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nationalization ² Cultural  

1. The taking over of private property by a national government.

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Explanation

Nationalization is when something that's been privately owned switches to being controlled by the government. In the United States, airport security went through nationalization in 2001, becoming a government agency. Nationalization is often viewed negatively in countries with capitalist economic systems, seen by some as a slide toward socialism or communism, in which nationalization partly serves to redistribute money among all citizens. At various times in the US, nationalization has occurred in areas like the railway system, utility companies, and banks. The Latin root word is nationem, "birth, origin, breed, or tribe," and the original meaning of nationalization was "the act of investing with a national character."

Example Sentences

The driller was one of several multinational oil companies that rushed back into Venezuela in the mid-1990s, 20 years after nationalization boxed them out of the country.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 19, 2026

Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips will likely be reluctant to re-enter a market where they were previously burned by nationalization.

From Barron's • Jan. 6, 2026

The oil major was awarded $10.5 billion plus interest by an international court after the nationalization of Venezuela’s oil industry in 2007.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 5, 2026

In the time of Hafez Assad, Bashar’s father, Syria was a socialist economy, with Soviet-style nationalization and tight regulation.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2025

They were also concerned about the idea of nationalization, insisting that the ANC and the Freedom Charter supported blanket nationalization for the South African economy.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela