What does legalizing mean?
Legalizing is the present-participle and gerund form of legalize, meaning to make something lawful or bring an activity within the law's protection. It is especially common in political reporting, where campaigns to legalize marijuana, abortion, gambling, or same-sex marriage are described according to whether the practice is legal in the relevant jurisdiction. The word can also have a broader sense of making an institution, practice, or course of action seem valid or acceptable. In this use, it may suggest that something previously contested is being granted legitimacy. Legalizing is distinct from legislating: legislation creates or changes laws, while legalization concerns bringing a particular activity or arrangement into legal status. The word is useful in discussing both concrete legal changes and broader questions of social acceptance, institutional validity, and public policy.
verbTo make something legal or to bring an activity or arrangement within the scope of the law; by extension, to treat it as valid or acceptable.
- Making something legal or bringing it within the scope of the law.
- Treating a person, institution, practice, or course of action as valid or acceptable.
"Lawmakers are debating whether to legalize the drug for medical use."
"Lawmakers are debating whether to legalize the drug for medical use."
"Several shareholders criticized the merger for effectively legalizing an unfair practice."
Legalizing a practice does more than describe permission: it can redraw the line between lawful and unlawful.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does legalizing come from?
Legalizing is an English inflected form of legalize, formed from legal plus the suffix -ize. Legal in turn comes from Latin legalis, meaning “permitted by law,” and is associated with lex, legis, meaning “law.” The English legal family includes legal, legality, legalism, and legalist, all of which share this Latin root.
Related word forms
How legalizing is actually used
Formal to neutral in tone and especially common in legal, political, and policy contexts. The -izing spelling is standard in US English, while British English generally uses -ising. In formal writing, legalization is usually the more natural noun when referring to the process or policy.
Easily confused with legalizing
Legalizing brings a particular activity or arrangement into legal status, whereas legislating means making or amending laws.