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
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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
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 Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various
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)
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
This Hellenized Documenta is sometimes forceful, often obscure, and in places exhaustingly proud of itself.
From New York Times ● Apr. 9, 2017
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
"We are Hellenizing you at a great rate."
From The Damnation of Theron Ware by Frederic, Harold
This hierarchical tie was soon snapped, but the Hellenizing influence continued to work, and bore its most abundant fruit in the 5th century.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various
The one great instance of assimilation of foreign nationalities by the Greeks is the Hellenizing of the Slavs, who from the 6th century had migrated into central Greece and the Peloponnese.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various
Indeed, the plans of Alexander embraced nothing less than the union and Hellenizing of the world.
From General History for Colleges and High Schools by Myers, Philip Van Ness
The poem, 'The Gods of Greece,' contributed to the Merkur in March, 1788, marks the beginning of his Hellenizing.
From The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller by Thomas, Calvin
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.