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

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Etymology

Origin of privatize

First recorded in 1945–50; private + -ize

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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

This week, the top council of soccer’s world governing body gathered in Zurich for the first time since his catastrophic plan to privatize part of the World Cup rights blew up over the summer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

It’s a surefire way to essentially privatize beaches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

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

But she’s concerned about Disney’s plans to privatize a city street, adding she first heard of the idea last month in a newspaper article even though she had attended two Disney informational presentations.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2024

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

Tweeting to your Circle is almost like having a private account, only it privatizes certain tweets instead of limiting access to your entire profile.

From The Verge ● May 28, 2022

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2020

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

And it came about because more than half a century ago, when it appeared that the coast was becoming too privatized and industrialized, a citizen uprising led to the protections we enjoy today.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

It privatized the internet, which began as a distributed communications network designed to withstand a nuclear war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 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

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

The thought of the simulation being privatized and homogenized by IOI horrified us in a way that those born before its introduction found difficult to understand.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

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

The International Monetary Fund recently gave the country a $7 billion loan, contingent on it privatizing key holdings, including the Roosevelt and Pakistan International Airlines, by this month.

From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2025

Some residents have also created an online petition in opposition to the privatizing of streets, with worries that Disney’s privatization of the streets will mean the public will no longer have access to them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2024

The government in recent years has been privatizing its ports and opening new ports in a bid to increase competition and efficiencies.

From Reuters ● Oct. 15, 2023

The center-right government's economic goals include reducing the   budget and current account deficits, limiting foreign borrowing, containing   inflation, revising agricultural and fishing policies, diversifying the   economy, and privatizing state-owned industries.

From The 1993 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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