Antonyms of verb decolonize

1 sense of decolonize

Sense 1
decolonize, decolonise -- (grant independence to (a former colony); "West Africa was decolonized in the early 1960's")
       Antonym of colonize (Sense 1)
      => colonize, colonise -- (settle as a colony; of countries in the developing world; "Europeans colonized Africa in the 17th century")

Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb decolonize

1 sense of decolonize

Sense 1
decolonize, decolonise -- (grant independence to (a former colony); "West Africa was decolonized in the early 1960's")
       => liberate, set free -- (grant freedom to; "The students liberated their slaves upon graduating from the university")