Globalization
Etymology
From “globe,” from Latin “globus” (“sphere, ball”), via “global.” Though long-distance trade is ancient, the term “globalization” spread only from the 1980s and 90s to describe an accelerating, technology-driven integration. It frames the whole planet as one interconnected system.
noun · /gloh-buh-lih-ZAY-shun/
The growing interconnection of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations through trade, technology, and migration.
What it names
The condition that makes a supply-chain snag in one country a shortage in another — the felt reality of a single, linked world.
Example
Globalization put strawberries in winter supermarkets and factories half a world away.
Related idea
It contrasts with protectionism and isolationism, which resist such integration by shielding domestic industry and limiting foreign entanglement.