“Criminalize” or “Criminalise”

Language

Criminalize and criminalise are both English terms.

Usage

Criminalize is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English (en-US) while criminalise is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) (en-GB).

In terms of actual appearance and usage, here's a breakdown by country, with usage level out of 100 (if available):

Term	US	UK	India	Philippines	Canada	Australia	Liberia	Ireland	New Zealand	Jamaica	Trinidad & Tobago	Guyana
criminalize	98	20	49	100	100	26	0	0	0	0	0	0
criminalise	2	80	51	0	0	74	0	0	0	0	0	0

• In the United States, there is a preference for "criminalize" over "criminalise" (98 to 2).
• In the United Kingdom, there is a 80 to 20 preference for "criminalise" over "criminalize".
• In India, there is a 51 to 49 preference for "criminalise" over "criminalize".
• In the Philippines, there is a preference for "criminalize" over "criminalise" (100 to 0).
• In Canada, there is a preference for "criminalize" over "criminalise" (100 to 0).
• In Australia, there is a 74 to 26 preference for "criminalise" over "criminalize".
• In Liberia, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "criminalize" and "criminalise".
• In Ireland, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "criminalize" and "criminalise".
• In New Zealand, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "criminalize" and "criminalise".
• In Jamaica, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "criminalize" and "criminalise".
• In Trinidad & Tobago, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "criminalize" and "criminalise".
• In Guyana, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "criminalize" and "criminalise".

Examples

Below, we provide some examples of when to use criminalize or criminalise with sample sentences.

Trends

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