“Legalized” or “Legalised”—What's the difference?

Usage by country

Where each spelling is used

Of the 12 countries below, 7 prefer “legalized” and 4 prefer “legalised”. Usage levels are out of 100; the more common spelling in each country is in bold.

Usage level out of 100 (if available).
Country	legalized	legalised	Preference
United States	99	1	“legalized”
United Kingdom	40	60	“legalised”
India	50	50	No clear preference
Philippines	98	2	“legalized”
Canada	97	3	“legalized”
Australia	33	67	“legalised”
Liberia	100	0	“legalized”
Ireland	44	56	“legalised”
New Zealand	46	54	“legalised”
Jamaica	100	0	“legalized”
Trinidad & Tobago	100	0	“legalized”
Guyana	100	0	“legalized”

Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“legalized”

…is soon going to be legalized nationwide and that he received…
…politics, which he believes is legalized bribery.
Vermont legalized cannabis possession by an act…
In 2005, Spain legalized same-sex marriage.
…as it was not yet legalized because of its status as…
…strictly speaking, a form of Legalized Taoism.
…widespread litigation in favour of legalized abortion.
…oral contraceptive pill having been legalized in 1967.
…equivalent of real money and legalized real money trading.
Cyprus legalized the medical use of cannabis…

“legalised”

…Timorese political parties were first legalised in April 1974, three major…
This special region is legalised in 2004 and enacted in
…of illegal homes have been legalised ahead of successive elections by…
…to participate in the recently legalised trade unions (which Jogiches opposed),…
…building, and its conveyance was legalised on 13 October 1843.
…first professionals when the FA legalised payments to players.
…December 2015, civil unions were legalised in Cyprus for both different-sex…
…society in which it is legalised.
…Scotland, when same-sex marriage was legalised, the First Minister of Scotland…
Same-sex sexual activity was legalised in Akrotiri and Dhekelia in…

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license.

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