Hellenize

[ hel-uh-nahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, Hel·len·ized, Hel·len·iz·ing.

1. to make Greek in character.

verb (used without object)

, Hel·len·ized, Hel·len·iz·ing.

1. to adopt Greek ideas or customs.

Hellenize

/ ˈhɛlɪˌnaɪz /

verb

1. to make or become like the ancient Greeks

Derived Forms

• ˌHelleniˈzation, noun
• ˈHellenˌizer, noun

Other Words From

• Hellen·i·zation noun
• Hellen·izer noun
• de-Hellen·ize verb deHellenized deHellenizing

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hellenize¹

First recorded in 1605–15, Hellenize is from the Greek word Hellēnízein to imitate the Greeks, speak Greek. See Hellene, -ize

Example Sentences

But unlike the early Christians, who had freed themselves to interpret parts of the Old Testament as metaphor, Maimonides was unwilling to Hellenize his religion completely.

From Literature

He set himself to Hellenize or Catholicize Armenian Christianity, and in furtherance of this aim set up a hierarchy officially dependent on the Cappadocian.

From Project Gutenberg

Their distinctive character, combined with their traditional tendency to regard non-Hellenic peoples as barbarous, has, indeed, to some extent counteracted the results of their great energy and zeal in the assimilation of other races; the advantageous position which they attained at an early period under Turkish rule owing to their superior civilization, their versatility, their wealth, and their monopoly of the ecclesiastical power would probably have enabled them to Hellenize permanently the greater part of the Balkan peninsula had their attitude towards other Christian races been more sympathetic.

From Project Gutenberg

This young girl, being unfamiliar with Alexandrian usage, had thought to Hellenize herself in this manner, not knowing that a dress of the kind was inadmissible at a festival where hired dancing-women, similarly unclothed, were to appear.

From Project Gutenberg

In the second century B.C., the Syrian king, Antiochus IV, sought to hellenize forcibly the Jews of Palestine and to compel them to surrender their way of life.

From Time Magazine Archive