Meanings
present singular third person democratizes · participle present democratizing · participle past democratized · past democratized · alternative democratise
- transitivestrictlyTo make democratic.
1 more example
Three distinct patterns within this wave are clear: Democratic backsliding in some traditionally stable democracies; significant reversals and often breakdown of democracy in countries that successfully democratized during the late 20th and early 21st centuries; and deepening of autocracy in already autocratic states. […] The number of autocratizing countries (red line) increases from the mid-1990s-early 2000s, to surpass the number of democratizing countries in 2012. […] Montenegro started to democratize with the 2020 elections ending nearly three decades of rule by the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (DPS).
2026, “Unraveling The Democratic Era?”, in V-Dem Institute, archived from the original on 17 Mar 2026, pages 7, 18, 29 - broadlytransitiveTo broaden access to (something), especially for the sake of egalitarianism.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchdémocratiser
- Englishdemocratize
From French démocratiser. By surface analysis, democrat(ic) + -ize.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مَقْرَطَ, دَقْرَطَ
- مَقْرَطَ (maqraṭa)to make democratic
- دَقْرَطَ (daqraṭa)to make democratic
- دَمَقْرَطَ (damaqraṭa)to make democratic
Bulgarian демократизи́рам
- демократизи́рам (demokratizíram)to make democratic
Catalan democratitzar
- democratitzarto make democratic
Chinese Mandarin 民主化
- 民主化 (mínzhǔhuà)to make democratic
Czech demokratizovat
- demokratizovatto make democratic
Danish demokratisere
- demokratisereto make democratic
Dutch democratiseren
- democratiserento make democratic
Estonian demokratiseerima
- demokratiseerimato make democratic
Finnish kansanvaltaistaa, demokratisoida
- kansanvaltaistaato make democratic
- demokratisoidato make democratic
French démocratiser
- démocratiserto make democratic
German demokratisieren
- demokratisierento make democratic
Greek εκδημοκρατίζω
- εκδημοκρατίζω (ekdimokratízo)to make democratic
Hungarian demokratizál
- demokratizálto make democratic
Irish daonlathaigh, déan daonlathach
- daonlathaighto make democratic
- déan daonlathachto make democratic
Italian democratizzare
- democratizzareto make democratic
Japanese 民主化する
- 民主化する (minshuka suru)to make democratic
Korean 민주화(民主化)하다
- 민주화(民主化)하다 (minjuhwahada)to make democratic
Latvian demokratizēt
- demokratizētto make democratic
Lithuanian demokratizuoti
- demokratizuotito make democratic
Norwegian Bokmål demokratisere
- demokratisereto make democratic
Polish demokratyzować, zdemokratyzować
- demokratyzowaćto make democratic
- zdemokratyzowaćto make democratic
Portuguese democratizar
- democratizarto make democratic
Romanian a democratiza
- a democratizato make democratic
Russian демократизи́ровать
- демократизи́ровать (demokratizírovatʹ)to make democratic
Slovak demokratizovať
- demokratizovaťto make democratic
Spanish democratizar
- democratizarto make democratic
Swedish demokratisera
- demokratiserato make democratic
Turkish demokratikleştirmek
- demokratikleştirmekto make democratic
Ukrainian демократизува́ти
- демократизува́ти (demokratyzuváty)to make democratic
Vietnamese dân chủ hoá
- dân chủ hoáto make democratic
Yiddish דעמאָקראַטיזירן
- דעמאָקראַטיזירן (demokratizirn)to make democratic
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
democratize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/democratize
“democratize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/democratize. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “democratize,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/democratize.
Source: democratize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.