Romanize

American  

[roh-muh-nahyz] / ˈroʊ məˌnaɪz /

especially British, Romanise

verb (used with object)

Romanized, Romanizing

1. to make Roman Catholic.

2. (often lowercase) to make Roman in character.

3. (often lowercase) to render in the Latin alphabet, especially a language traditionally written in a different system, as Chinese or Japanese.

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verb (used without object)

Romanized, Romanizing

1. to conform to Roman Catholic doctrine and practices; to become Roman Catholic.

2. (often lowercase) to follow Roman practices.

Romanize British  

/ ˈrəʊməˌnaɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to impart a Roman Catholic character to (a ceremony, practice, etc)

2. (intr) to be converted to Roman Catholicism

3. (tr) to transcribe or transliterate (a language) into the Roman alphabet

4. to make Roman in character, allegiance, style, etc

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Other Word Forms

• Romanization
  noun
• Romanizer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Romanize

First recorded in 1600–10; Roman + -ize

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Romanize Romanized Romanizing

The book commences with an anagram on the lady's name: "Add but an A to Romanize your name Another Pallas is your anagram, Videlicet Maria Nevila Alia Minerva."

From Notes and Queries, Number 54, November 9, 1850 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by George Bell

It was possible, it was easy, to Romanize these western peoples.

From The Romanization of Roman Britain by F. (Francis) Haverfield

The attempt in the nineteenth century to Romanize our theories of liability involved a Romanized will-theory of contract.

From An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law by Roscoe Pound

Dr. Webster also defines Romanize, "To Latinize; to conform to Romish opinions."

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown

The church and the nation, however, were strongly Protestant and were soon alarmed by his efforts to Romanize the country.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 4 "England" to "English Finance" by Various

Zhou Youguang created the Pinyin system of Romanized Chinese, which vastly increased literacy in China and eased the agonies of foreigners studying the language.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 14, 2017

Christ's given name, commonly Romanized as Yeshua, was quite common in first-century Galilee.

From Slate ● Dec. 19, 2013

The books present the dialogue in four versions – Urdu, Hindi, Romanized Urdu and an English translation and require “about 20 stages of proof-reading,” Ms. Kabir said.

From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2012

Korean rice cakes, Romanized as tteok, are a staple ingredient in the country’s cuisine.

From Washington Post

Here, in 376, he was beaten, not by the Romanized Gauls but by the Nordic Visigoths, whose king, Roderick, died on the field.

From The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy by Lothrop Stoddard

“The Presbyterians not only succeeded in Romanizing the spoken Taiwanese language but also provided services such as education and healthcare that other churches did not provide,” she said.

From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2022

This famous edict completed the work, begun so many centuries before, of Romanizing the ancient world.

From Early European History by Hutton Webster

Does the ceremony of ordination constitute the Romanizing of Spain?

From Carmen Ariza by Charles Francis Stocking

It is clear that Lanfranc had won the O'Briens to the Romanizing side; and Anselm was determined to hold them fast.

From St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh by Hugh Jackson Lawlor

The oppression by Roman governors and Romanizing high priests did not diminish when Nero succeeded Claudius.

From Josephus by Norman Bentwich