privatize

American  

[prahy-vuh-tahyz] / ˈpraɪ vəˌtaɪz /

especially British, privatise

verb (used with object)

privatizes, present (3rd person singular) privatized, past participle, past privatizing present participle

1. to transfer from public or government control or ownership to private enterprise.

   a campaign promise to privatize some of the public lands.

2. to make exclusive; delimit or appropriate.

   special-interest groups attempting to privatize social issues.

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privatize British  

/ ˈpraɪvɪˌtaɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to transfer (the production of goods or services) from the public sector of an economy into private ownership and operation

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• privatization
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• privatizing
  present
• privatized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• privatize
  simple
• privatizes
  simple
• have privatized
  perfect
• has privatized
  perfect
• am privatizing
  progressive
• are privatizing
  progressive
• is privatizing
  progressive
• have been privatizing
  perfect progressive
• has been privatizing
  perfect progressive

Past

• privatized
  simple
• had privatized
  perfect
• was privatizing
  progressive
• were privatizing
  progressive
• had been privatizing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will privatize
  simple
• will have privatized
  perfect
• will be privatizing
  progressive
• will have been privatizing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of privatize

First recorded in 1945–50; private + -ize

Explanation

To privatize is to switch ownership or control from public, or government-run, to private. The US has a history of deciding to privatize previously government-controlled railroads. If profit making companies took over every school in the country, turning all public schools into private ones, it would privatize education. Most countries have a variety of public and private industries — in the US, the post office, many schools, public universities, and the police, among other services, are in the public sector. If this changed, they would privatize.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

privatize privatizes privatized privatizing

In exchange for a promise not to privatize state companies and to hold further talks, the Bolivian Workers' Central union agreed to end their protests.

From Barron's ● Jun. 20, 2026

In particular, one happened when the government was about to privatize the pension system, because the Japanese population is aging and the ratio between the workers and retired people is worsening.

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2025

Disneyland’s plan to reimagine the theme park into a more “immersive” experience may require up to $2.5 billion and a plan to privatize some Anaheim streets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2024

In October, prosecutors publicly put Berisha under investigation for allegedly abusing his post to help his son-in-law, Jamarber Malltezi, privatize public land to build 17 apartment buildings.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 30, 2023

Alice Manfred had worked hard to privatize her niece, but she was no match for a City seeping music that begged and challenged each and every day.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

Dense landscaping privatizes the backyard, where a brick patio adjoins a swimming pool.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2020

In the near future, the city of Detroit is approaching collapse, and a sinister megacorp named Omni Consumer Products privatizes the police force to clean up the streets.

From The Verge ● Jul. 4, 2018

Because the jury’s verdict casts a huge shadow over musical creativity and takes what should be familiar elements of a genre, available to all, and privatizes them.

From Slate ● Mar. 12, 2015

Though the country is one of Europe’s poorest, there is still the potential for profit, particularly as the government privatizes critical assets.

From New York Times ● Dec. 12, 2012

The new federal highway bill partly privatizes road maintenance.

From Time Magazine Archive

Already social media is aflame with anger about privatized youth programs and the financial barriers to entry, both legitimate dilemmas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

The digital push comes as the bank is exiting several markets to become simpler and as it fully privatized its Hong Kong bank Hang Seng in January.

From MarketWatch ● May 5, 2026

“I call this the social welfare state of two. We’ve privatized dependency within marriage.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2026

But across the island, small-scale farmers and cooperatives already operate as private entrepreneurs, growing food, managing their own production and selling to local markets, most of which have been privatized.

From Salon ● Apr. 11, 2026

These woolen factories became major employers of people whose families had been displaced when land was privatized.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

But countries were forced to enact structural reforms like raising retirement ages, streamlining bureaucracy, privatizing industries and overhauling labor laws.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2025

Pregnancy can be privatizing, and it is fitting that it registers in conspicuous consumption.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025

But privatizing it, he said, “would make it even worse.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2025

The incoming Argentine president has vowed to revive the country's battered economy and look at privatizing state-owned assets, though it is unclear how easy that will be.

From Reuters ● Nov. 23, 2023

Inroads also have been made in closing tax loopholes, eliminating monopoly power in several sectors, and privatizing state owned firms.

From The 1996 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency