Unnaturalize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To revoke or withdraw the status of naturalization; to strip someone of their acquired citizenship or legal rights as a naturalized citizen; to undo the process of granting citizenship
2. The act of removing or cancelling the conferment of citizenship obtained through naturalization; to legally revert a naturalized individual to their prior status; to annul or invalidate a person's naturalized citizenship
3. To cause the loss of naturalized citizenship by official or legal means; to reverse the granting of citizenship rights; to take back the status granted through naturalization processes

Etymology: "Unnaturalize" is a straightforward formation: the prefix "un-" joined to "naturalize," which is itself built from "natural" with the suffix "-ize." The word "natural" traces back to Latin "naturalis," meaning belonging to nature or birth, and "naturalize" took on the sense of admitting a foreigner to a country's citizenship, which is what gives the reversed form its legal meaning. The suffix "-ize," from Greek "-izein," turns an adjective or noun into a verb meaning to make or to cause something to become. Attaching "un-" to a verb reverses its action, so "unnaturalize" means to undo the making of someone into a national by birth-style status. In practice, the word is used in legal and political contexts, where a government strips a person of citizenship it had previously granted.

Synonyms: denaturalize, dehumanize, alienate, estrange, disenfranchise

Antonyms: naturalize, humanize, acclimate, integrate, assimilate