nationalise

N1A1T1I1O1N1A1L1I1S1E1

A form of nationalize — To make into, or to become, a nation.

RareScrabble 11

Meanings

verbnationalise (third-person singular simple present nationalises, present participle nationalising, simple past and past participle nationalised)

present singular third person nationalises · participle present nationalising · participle past nationalised · past nationalised

  1. UKnonstandardNon-Oxford British English standard spelling of nationalize.

    It is a canard trotted out by lazy or tendentious journalists that nationalised British Railways lacked entrepreneurial flair.

    2021 November 17, Anthony Lambert, “How do we grow the leisure market?”, in RAIL, number 944, page 37
    3 more examples

    It was done in order to nationalise — or rather to Babylonise — all the four throughout, by giving them Chaldean names, bearing the names of the gods Bel and Nego or Nebo.

    1870, The Broadway, page 33

    Although the B.L.S. group of railways remains under private ownership, the question of nationalising more Swiss lines has recently been considered by a Government Commission.

    1953 August, J. G. Click, “The Lötschberg Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 513

    The US joins the first world war and supplies allied forces with oil. President Woodrow Wilson appoints multiple oil executives to war-effort committees and nationalises the railways.

    2017 November 12, Jie Jenny Zou, “How big oil is tightening its grip on Donald Trump's White House”, in The Guardian

Synonyms & antonyms

verbmake national in character or scope

verbput under state control or ownership

Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frenchnationaliser
  2. Englishnationalise

From French nationaliser, equivalent to national + -ise.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

nationalise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nationalise

MLA

“nationalise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nationalise. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nationalise,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nationalise.

Source: nationalise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.