Anglicize

American  

[ang-gluh-sahyz] / ˈæŋ gləˌsaɪz /

especially British, Anglicise

verb (used with or without object)

Anglicized, Anglicizing

1. (sometimes lowercase) to make or become English in form or character.

   to Anglicize the pronunciation of a Russian name.

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anglicize British  

/ ˈæŋɡlɪˌfaɪ, ˈæŋɡlɪˌsaɪz /

verb

1. (sometimes capital) to make or become English in outlook, attitude, form, etc

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Other Word Forms

• Anglicization noun
• anglicization noun
• de-Anglicize verb (used with object)
• half-Anglicized adjective

Etymology

Origin of Anglicize

1700–10; < Medieval Latin Anglic ( us ) English + -ize

Explanation

To anglicize something is to change it so that it appears to be more English. Immigrants to the United States sometimes anglicize their names so they're more familiar to English-speaking Americans. If you anglicize your house, you might decorate it in the style of a British tea room, and if you anglicize your Polish name, you make it sound less Polish and more English. Throughout history, places that were colonized by England were forced to anglicize many of their place names — one example is Kolkata, India, which was anglicized to "Calcutta" and changed back in 2001. Anglicize comes from the Latin root Angli, or "the English."

Example Sentences

Emily Woo Zeller, a Chinese American narrator, has sometimes clashed with directors and QC over whether to Anglicize the pronunciation of words taken from other languages, such as tofu or kung fu.

From Slate • Jun. 21, 2021

Robin Philpot, a prominent Quebec writer, argued that Montreal should guard against a long-standing drive by the British conquerors of Quebec and their descendants to Anglicize the names of streets and bridges in the city.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 10, 2020

I’m positive that if the show’s creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, did her level best to Anglicize the cast and avoided their Jewishness at all costs, Brownfield would be criticizing her for that.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2019

The Taubs first persuaded the vineyard that produced the wine to Anglicize its name.

From New York Times • Nov. 23, 2012

The more concrete and familiar terms are the abstract noun Americanization and the verbs Americanize, Anglicize, Germanize, and the like.

From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Park, Robert Ezra