communize: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
Very Low / RareFormal, Academic, Political, Historical
Quick answer
What does “communize” mean?
To bring something, especially property or resources, under collective or state ownership and control.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
To bring something, especially property or resources, under collective or state ownership and control.
To make something common or shared by a community; to reorganize according to communist principles. Can be used in historical or political contexts to describe the forced transition to state ownership, or more abstractly to describe making something widely accessible or shared.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Usage is similar but heavily influenced by respective historical contexts (e.g., UK discussions of post-war Eastern Europe vs. US discussions of Cold War policies). Spelling uses 's' not 'z' in UK English for the related noun 'communisation'.
Connotations
Almost universally negative in mainstream political discourse in both regions, implying imposition and loss of private property rights. In academic Marxist theory, it may be used neutrally or positively.
Frequency
Extremely rare in everyday language in both varieties, encountered almost exclusively in historical, political science, or economic texts.
Grammar
How to Use “communize” in a Sentence
[V] + [NP] (e.g., They sought to communize the farms.)[V] + [NP] + [PP] (e.g., The government communized the land for public use.)Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “communize” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The post-war government's plan was to gradually communise key industries.
- Historians debate the intent to communise agriculture in the late 1940s.
American English
- The regime moved swiftly to communize the banking sector.
- They feared the new legislation was a first step to communize healthcare.
adverb
British English
- [Not a standard form. Use 'communistically' or rephrase.]
American English
- [Not a standard form. Use 'communistically' or rephrase.]
adjective
British English
- [The adjective form is 'communized'.] The newly communised factories faced immediate production challenges.
- A communised economy was the stated goal.
American English
- [The adjective form is 'communized'.] The communized farmland led to a drop in yields.
- He wrote about the failures of the communized system.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Virtually never used. If referenced, it's as a historical threat or a theoretical extreme opposite to free-market capitalism.
Academic
Used in history, political science, and economics to describe specific policies of communist regimes, often in a neutral, descriptive tone.
Everyday
Extremely rare. May be used rhetorically in political debate to criticize a policy as overly socialist.
Technical
Not a technical term in most fields; specific to political/economic theory.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “communize”
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “communize”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “communize”
- Confusing 'communize' with 'communalize' (which implies sharing for common use without necessarily abolishing private ownership).
- Using it in a modern, positive context about sharing resources, which sounds unnatural and politically naive to native speakers.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it is a very rare word. It is almost exclusively found in historical or political academic texts discussing 20th-century communist policies.
Both involve state control, but 'communize' specifically implies doing so under a communist ideological framework, often with the goal of abolishing private property entirely. 'Nationalize' is a broader, less ideologically charged term for bringing an industry under state control.
In mainstream English, it is almost always used negatively or neutrally in historical description. A positive usage would be highly marked and only found in explicitly Marxist theoretical writing.
The process is 'communization' (US) / 'communisation' (UK). The state of being communized can be described with the adjective 'communized'.
To bring something, especially property or resources, under collective or state ownership and control.
Communize is usually formal, academic, political, historical in register.
Communize: in British English it is pronounced /ˈkɒmjʊnaɪz/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈkɑːmjənaɪz/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “[No common idioms directly based on this verb]”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: 'COMMUNIZE' makes things COMMON for the COMMUNITY, but in a way that removes private ownership.
Conceptual Metaphor
OWNERSHIP IS CONTROL (To communize is to transfer control of ownership from the individual to the collective state.)
Practice
Quiz
Which of the following is the closest synonym to 'communize' in its most common historical context?