Skip to main content
militarization

militarization

8 7.2
Making a country or area ready for war by adding soldiers and weapons
  • noun
  • /ˌmɪlɪtəraɪˈzeɪʃən/
translation icon : militarización
  • The country's militarization began after the conflict intensified and external threats grew.
  • Increased militarization
  • level of militarization
  • degree of militarization

Bradley Dalco has written about this rather compellingly funding the militarization of police around the country.

Examples

  • The general degree of militarization in Western European populations has thus sunk and is still sinking.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Many activists are protesting against the militarization of the police in urban areas.

  • A high level of militarization might reflect only a response to a transient or temporary threat.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The country has since actively taken part in the growing militarization of the Caspian region, say observers.

    Blog text (10)
  • Tendencies toward higher regional militarization can also be found in Asia and the Caucasus.

    Blog text (12)
  • Because of its strain on national resources, militarization has exacted a heavy toll on development and democratization in the region.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Americans bolstered the distinctions between themselves and Latin Americans through a militarization of the US-Mexico border.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Albert Langen, the editor of Simplicissimus, chose his title to reflect his concern over the increasing militarization of Wilhelmine Germany.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Moreover, militarization would undermine the gravity of the humanitarian catastrophe involved in a confrontation with the regime.

    Academic text (2012)
  • The militarization of police forces has raised concerns about civil liberties.

Synonyms

mobilization
vsmilitarization
26 6.7

Organizing people and supplies for action in a crisis

is specific to military conflict rather than general emergencies
arming
vsmilitarization
16 5.1

The act of giving weapons to soldiers to prepare for war

is wider involving organizing at country or regional level beyond just weapons
armament
vsmilitarization
5 7.0

Supplying a country or army with weapons and equipment to prepare for war

is broader adding organization and preparation for military operations

Antonyms

disarmament
  • Specialized
51 5.5

To reduce or remove weapons and armies between countries to lower the chance of war

3 6.8

Removal of soldiers and weapons from an area to make it peaceful

How Militarized

militarization
8 7.2
rearmament
1 8.0
to build up
  • Specialized
23 5.7
demilitarization
  • Formal
3 6.8

Surface Forms

Morphology

militarization = militarize (transparent) = military + ize + ation

The noun is formed by adding '-ation' to the verb 'militarize', a standard nominalization denoting a process.

Etymology

Militarization comes from military, which originally meant 'soldier', and the ending -ization, meaning 'the act of making'. So militarization is the process of making a place or group like a military, equipping or getting it ready for war.