noun
- the act or fact of centralizing; fact of being centralized.
- the concentration of administrative power in a central government, authority, etc.
- Chiefly Sociology.
- a process whereby social groups and institutions become increasingly dependent on a central group or institution.
- concentration of control or power in a few individuals.
1801, especially of administrative power, originally with reference to Napoleonic France and on model of French centralisation. See centralize + -ation.