civilizar

To civilize — bring something or someone into what's considered a "civilized" state. Central to a famous 19th-century Latin American debate: Argentine writer Domingo Faustino Sarmiento built his influential 1845 book Facundo o civilización y barbarie around the tension between "civilizar" and "barbarie," a dichotomy still referenced in Latin American political and cultural discussion today.

• La educación pretende civilizar y formar mejores ciudadanos. — Education aims to civilize and shape better citizens.
• El proyecto colonial se justificaba diciendo que iba a civilizar a los pueblos originarios. — The colonial project justified itself by claiming it would civilize indigenous peoples.
• Le costaba civilizar los modales de su nuevo cachorro. — He had a hard time civilizing his new puppy's manners.

Be aware the word carries real historical baggage — its use to justify the colonization of indigenous peoples means it isn't a neutral word in Latin American political discourse the way it might seem at first glance.

• book Facundo o civilización y barbarie en las pampas argentinas — Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's influential 1845 essay, which frames Argentina's 19th-century conflicts around the dichotomy of "civilización" versus "barbarie" — one of the most famous and enduring ideas in Latin American political literature.