Wiktionary

legalize

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From legal +‎ -ize.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈliːɡəlaɪz/
  • Audio (UK):(file)

Verb

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legalize (third-person singular simple present legalizes, present participle legalizing, simple past and past participle legalized)

  1. To make legal or permit under law. Either by decriminalising something that has been illegal or by specifically permitting it.
    There is a debate whether or not to legalize some of the softer drugs.
    • 1987, Dian Cohen, Money, page 155:
      This is true despite the fact that in 1986, the federal government legalized the cashability of RRSP annuities.
    • 2006, Matt Wray, Not Quite White, page 71:
      Legislative reform campaigns aimed at restricting foreign immigration, mandating state institutionalization of the biologically unfit, and legalizing eugenical involuntary sterilization.
    • 2007 August 22, “Virginia’s Gun Market”, in The New York Times‎[1]:
      But now a legislative battle looms over the gun lobby’s brazen counterinitiative to legalize concealed weapons on campus.
    • 2021 September 23, Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Troy Closson, “New York Has Legalized Marijuana. Here’s What to Know.”, in The New York Times‎[2]:
      State lawmakers approved a bill on Tuesday that legalizes the drug for adults 21 and older and moves toward the creation of a potential $4.2 billion industry that could become one of the nation’s largest markets.

Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Galician

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Verb

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legalize

  1. (reintegrationist norm) inflection of legalizar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Portuguese

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Verb

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legalize

  1. inflection of legalizar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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