Urbanize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To convert a geographical area to resemble a city through strategic construction, increased population, and enhanced services
2. To modify a region by establishing urban characteristics such as higher population concentrations, buildings, and amenities
3. To transform a rural or undeveloped area into a city-like environment by adding infrastructure, increasing population density, and providing urban facilities

Etymology: Urbanize is a plain English compound: "urban" plus the suffix "-ize", which turns a noun or adjective into a verb meaning "make or become". The adjective "urban" came into English from Middle French "urbain", which had been taken from Latin "urbanus", meaning "of the city". That Latin adjective grew from "urbs", "city", the root that also gives us "urbane", a word that once meant polished in the manner of city dwellers. The suffix has a longer journey than the base. It descends from Ancient Greek verbs ending in "-ízein", passed into Late Latin as "-izare", reached Old French as "-iser", and entered Middle English as "-isen". The spelling "-ize" became standard in English later, after a Latin-influenced form was adopted in its place. The result is a tidy example of how English builds verbs: a city-related adjective receives a Greek-derived suffix, and the new verb describes the act of making a place urban. Its meaning is literal and concrete, so there is little drift to report.

Synonyms: develop, modernize, industrialize, civilize, populate

Antonyms: ruralize, deurbanize