To make something or someone become like an animal; to give animal characteristics to something.
From animal + -ize (suffix meaning to cause to become or treat as). Animal comes from Latin animalis, originally meaning 'having breath or soul' from anima (soul, life breath). The -ize suffix comes from Greek -izein.
The verb animalize appears frequently in 19th-century literature as a way to describe moral corruption—the idea that civilization and ethics could strip away, revealing our 'animal nature.' It's a word that shows how language both reflects and shapes moral judgments about human behavior.
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