Hellenize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Hellenize
First recorded in 1605–15, Hellenize is from the Greek word Hellēnízein to imitate the Greeks, speak Greek. See Hellene, -ize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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 "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Lycon of Lacedæmon to Democrates of Athens, greeting:—Can he who Medizes in the summer Hellenize in the spring?
From A Victor of Salamis by Davis, William Stearns
The native kings had done much to Hellenize Cappadocia, which had previously received a strong Iranian colour; but it was left to Christianity to complete their work.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 3 "Capefigue" to "Carneades" by Various
They did not abolish the individuality of either; they did not Hellenize even so much of West Asia as they succeeded in holding to the end.
From The Ancient East by Hogarth, D. G. (David George)
Have I not sacked the Temple, and on the altar Set up the statue of Olympian Zeus To Hellenize it?
From The Complete Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth
Eventually, the brutal repression of Jews who remained in their homeland led to the collapse of the Hellenized Jewish communities throughout the Roman Empire.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
His last name — Adetokunbo — was Hellenized when he finally became a citizen of Greece and received his passport, one month before the Bucks drafted him 15th in 2013.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 23, 2021
Some speculate that, by the time of the Second Temple, many Jews were Hellenized, and early converts to Christianity were merely borrowing standard Dionysian rites.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 7, 2019
Read in its historical context, however, the Hanukkah story is really about a revolt against the Hellenized Jews who had fallen madly in love with the sophisticated, globalizing superculture of their day.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2013
With its advance the native languages and old religions gradually disappeared, and at last the whole country was thoroughly Hellenized, and the people united by identity of language and religion.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various
Though divided and subdivided, the effect of those conquests remained to future generations, and had no small effect on civilization, and yet, instead of Hellenizing Asia, he rather Asiatized Hellas.
From Ancient States and Empires by Lord, John
In each country conquered he usually succeeded in Hellenizing the native peoples.
From The Makers and Teachers of Judaism by Kent, Charles Foster
The poet prided himself upon his unadulterated Latinity, and protested against the strong Hellenizing tendency that was setting in.
From Studies in the Poetry of Italy, I. Roman by Miller, Frank Justus
Yet the most interesting, as well as the most important, feature of the age is the diffusion of Hellenic culture—the "Hellenizing" of the Orient.
From Early European History by Webster, Hutton
Theocritus is not exempt from the artificialism of the Hellenizing literature; but his true sense of natural beauty entitles him to a place in the first rank of pastoral poets.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
