Urbanizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of transforming rural regions into more developed urban areas as well as modifying community infrastructures for city living
2. The shift from agrarian landscapes to urban environments involving changes in population density and land use patterns
3. The process of converting non-urban land into urban areas characterized by increased buildings and population density ; altering physical and social structures to suit city living and modern lifestyles

Etymology: "Urbanizing" is the present participle of "urbanize", so its history is that of the verb. The root is Latin "urbs", meaning "city", which gave Latin the adjective "urbanus" (of the city, refined, polished) and passed through Old French into Middle English as "urban". The verb comes from the English adjective plus the Greek-derived suffix "-ize", which entered Latin as "-izare" and arrived in English through French. The suffix is the surprising part: it is Greek in origin, borrowed into Late Latin and then carried through French and Middle English, so the verb is a hybrid of Latin and Greek elements built in English. The noun "urban" itself was already in use in English for centuries before the verb formed, so "urbanize" is a relatively late, English-made word. Its meaning follows the adjective directly: to make a place city-like, which is why the word can describe the shift from farmland to city life.

Synonyms: cityfying, metropolizing

Antonyms: ruralizing, deurbanizing