privatization

IPA/ˌpraɪvətaɪˈzeɪʃn/
KK[prˈaɪvətəzˈeʃən]IPA/ˌpraɪvətəˈzeɪʃn/

privatization — noun

  • privatizationsingular
  • privatizationsplural

1. the sale or transfer of a business, industry, or public service from government

1.nounB2
Definition

the sale or transfer of a business, industry, or public service from government ownership to control by private companies or investors

Example

The privatization of Japan's rail system split the network into six regional companies.

privatization + of + [industry/company]

Mizuki argued that the privatization of the city's water supply would raise prices for low-income households.

privatization of [service] as topic of public debate

Common collocations
  • privatization of [industry/company/service]
  • government privatization plan
  • mass privatization program
  • the privatization process
  • privatization debate
Synonyms
  • denationalization

    a direct synonym, used especially in political science and historical contexts

  • deregulation

    related but distinct — removing government rules, not necessarily changing ownership

Antonyms
  • nationalization

    transfer of private businesses to government ownership; the exact opposite process

Usage Note

Often contrasted with nationalization, which describes the opposite process — a government taking control of a private business. The British English spelling privatisation is also widely used.

Common Mistakes

The privatization of mail delivery means they outsourced the work.
The privatization of mail delivery means the government sold the postal service to a private company.
privatization refers to a transfer of ownership, not merely hiring a private contractor to run a service.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Denationalization is the closest synonym for privatization, though it is used mostly in political-science writing and less in everyday news reporting. Deregulation refers to reducing government rules over an industry, but it does not change who owns it — a state-owned airline may be deregulated yet remain under government control. Liberalization is a broader term that means opening a market to competition and may include privatization as one step among several. Outsourcing, meanwhile, means hiring a private company to run a specific service while the government keeps ownership; it is not a sale of assets. For example: 'The government pursued the privatization of the railway, not merely outsourcing ticket sales to a private firm.'

denationalization ↗deregulation ↗liberalizationoutsourcing ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • wave of privatization
  • privatization of state assets

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

The noun privatization was formed in the mid-1900s from the verb privatize, which itself comes from private (from Latin privatus, meaning 'set apart from public life'). The suffix -ization indicates a process or result. The term gained widespread political use during the economic reforms of the 1980s in the United Kingdom and the United States.