reprivatization

R1E1P3R1I1V4A1T1I1Z10A1T1I1O1N1

noun

The process of, or an instance of, returning to private ownership.

Scrabble 29

Meanings

nounreprivatization (plural reprivatizations)

plural reprivatizations · alternative reprivatisation · alternative re-privatisation · alternative re-privatization

  1. economicsThe process of, or an instance of, returning to private ownership.

    POLITICAL OBSTACLES The process of nationalization and reprivatization went amazingly well in Sweden partly because it was remarkably free of political interference.

    2009 March 8, Alan S. Blinder, “Nationalize? Hey, Not So Fast”, in New York Times
    1 more example

    ‘Re-privatisation,’ as it is called, has, however, been under way in the cases of all three banks. Some 40 per cent of the G.D. Bank’s holding of Deutsche-Disconto shares had passed back into private hands by the end of 1935. The new advance of bank shares to above par ought to smooth the way for complete ‘re-privatisation.’

    1936 August 1, The Economist

Origin

  1. GermanReprivatisierung“reprivatization”
  2. Englishreprivatization

From re- + privatization; coined as early as 1936. Possibly a calque of German Reprivatisierung (“reprivatization”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch reprivatisering
  • reprivatiseringreturning to private ownership
German Reprivatisierung
  • Reprivatisierungreturning to private ownership
Hungarian reprivatizáció
  • reprivatizációreturning to private ownership
Icelandic endureinkavæðing
  • endureinkavæðingreturning to private ownership
Polish reprywatyzacja
  • reprywatyzacjareturning to private ownership
Cite this entry
APA

reprivatization. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprivatization

MLA

“reprivatization.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprivatization. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reprivatization,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reprivatization.

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