What does communalise mean?
To communalise something is to place it under the ownership or control of a community as a whole, rather than leaving it in private hands. The term applies most often to property, land, housing, or entire industries, and it appears frequently in discussions of socialist and communist policy, land reform, and utopian communities such as the Israeli kibbutzim. Beyond formal property transfers, it can describe more everyday arrangements — residents might communalise a shared garden, tools, or meals in a co-housing scheme. The word carries distinctly political connotations, sitting alongside 'collectivise' and 'nationalise' in the vocabulary of economic organisation, though it emphasises community ownership specifically rather than state control. It is spelled 'communalise' in British English and 'communalize' in American English. While not among the most common words in English, it remains useful wherever writers need precision about who owns what — and whether that ownership belongs to individuals or to everyone.
verbTo transfer something (especially property, land, or an industry) into collective or community ownership; to make something communal rather than private or individual.
- To convert private property, land, or an industry into communal or collective ownership.
- More generally, to make something shared by a community rather than restricted to individuals.
"The revolutionary government moved swiftly to communalise the large estates."
"The new administration pledged to communalise the country's natural resources."
"In the kibbutz, residents chose to communalise meals, childcare, and even laundry."
When governments communalise, private property doesn't vanish — it changes hands to everyone at once.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of communalise
Communalise derives from 'communal', meaning shared by a community, combined with the verbal suffix '-ise'. 'Communal' traces back through French to the Latin 'communis', meaning common or shared by all — the same root that gives us 'commune', 'community', and 'common'. The verb emerged in the nineteenth century amid debates over property and social organisation, when writers needed a term for converting private holdings into collective ownership.
Related word forms
How communalise is actually used
The spelling 'communalise' is standard in British English; American English uses 'communalize'. The word carries strong political and economic connotations, most often appearing in discussions of socialism, communism, and land reform, and is less common than its synonyms 'socialise' and 'collectivise'.
Easily confused with communalise
'Communalise' is simply the British spelling of the same verb, which is spelled 'communalize' in American English — the meanings are identical.