Americanization

noun

Amer·​i·​can·​i·​za·​tion ə-ˌmer-ə-kə-nə-ˈzā-shən 

-ˌmər-,

-ˌme-rə-

1

: the act or process of Americanizing

2

: instruction of foreigners (such as immigrants) in English and in U.S. history, government, and culture

Examples of Americanization in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Trump is likewise uninterested in Americanization as a foreign-policy agenda. —Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025

Image The pledge itself was part of an Americanization program for immigrant children. —Katrin Bennhold, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025

The Russians were annoyed that the subject was Ukraine; the Ukrainians were offended by Copland’s Americanization of their folk music and by Ira Gershwin’s lyrics. —Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2025

His suggestion of Americanization there and elsewhere amounts to what many foreign diplomats and scholars see as an escalation more than a break with the past. —Damien Cave, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025

But his father Kirk was the subject of one of the studio era's most rigorous Americanization regimes, having been born Issur Danielovitch. —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 4 Sep. 2024

By defeating Japan, the United States would encourage the democratization (and, by extension, the Americanization) of Asia. —Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 13 Jan. 2023

This was a routine gesture of Americanization that many of the stars of that era underwent. —Mayukh Sen, The New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2023

Even if its Americanization follows a standard template, the movie maintains a flavorful sprinkling of the material’s cultural specificity, its spiritual elements and its philosophical lessons about hubris and humility. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Aug. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for Americanization

• anticoagulation
• antidiscrimination
• bioaccumulation
• bioremediation
• compartmentalization
• contextualization
• copolymerization
• decriminalization
• dehumidification
• demilitarization
• demineralization
• departmentalization