Hellenize

[ hel-uh-nahyz ]

/ ˈhɛl əˌnaɪz /

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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.

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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

OTHER WORDS FROM Hellenize

Hel·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. 2023

How to use Hellenize in a sentence

A good deal is told of the Hellenization of the East under Seleucus.
The Browning Cyclopdia|Edward Berdoe
The western custom of cremation was never adopted, in spite of the Hellenization of culture.
How to Observe in Archaeology|Various
Among the Slav upper class there was a good deal of Hellenization; to be a Greek was of much social value.
The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 1|Henry Baerlein
We are to-day in the midst of a movement likely to surpass the period of Hellenization in duration and extent.
Musical Portraits|Paul Rosenfeld

Under Rome the process of Hellenization, which the divisions and weakness of the Macedonian kingdoms had checked, went forward.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2|Various

British Dictionary definitions for Hellenize

Hellenize

Hellenise

/ (ˈhɛlɪˌnaɪz) /

verb

to make or become like the ancient Greeks

Derived forms of Hellenize

Hellenization 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