Hellenize

[hel-uh-nahyz]

verb (used with object), Hel·len·ized, Hel·len·iz·ing.

to make Greek in character.

verb (used without object), Hel·len·ized, Hel·len·iz·ing.

to adopt Greek ideas or customs.

Also especially British, Hel·len·ise.

Origin of Hellenize

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

Related formsHel·len·i·za·tion, nounHel·len·iz·er, nounde-Hel·len·ize, verb, de-Hel·len·ized, de-Hel·len·iz·ing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hellenization

Historical Examples of hellenization

Harnack traces three stages in the Hellenization of Christianity.
The Legacy of Greece
Various
A good deal is told of the Hellenization of the East under Seleucus.
The Browning Cyclopdia
Edward Berdoe
In the rest of the East his instrument of hellenization was the polis.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4
Various
Aphrodite exhibits more clearly than any other deity the process or the direction of the Hellenization of a foreign god.
Introduction to the History of Religions
Crawford Howell Toy
In various ways, the Hellenization of the Roman religion was accomplished.
The Trial of Jesus from a Lawyer's Standpoint, Vol. II (of II)
Walter M. Chandler

British Dictionary definitions for hellenization

Hellenize

Hellenise

verb

to make or become like the ancient Greeks

Derived FormsHellenization or Hellenisation, nounHellenizer or Helleniser, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012