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 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

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 Bell, George

This enabled her, long afterward, to Romanize Germany and England in some degree, and as it were at second-hand, by the arms of Charlemagne and William.

From Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 1 A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History by Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis)

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 Pound, Roscoe

By alloting the land, the Latin race and Latin tongue would help to Romanize territory already conquered by Roman arms.

From Public Lands and Agrarian Laws of the Roman Republic by Stephenson, Andrew

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

Even south of the wall the country was not completely Romanized, and the Celtic tongue has actually survived down to the present day in Wales.

From An Introduction to the History of Western Europe by Robinson, James Harvey

“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

It is therefore his purpose to show that all the sedition was of John's making, while it would seem more probable that the disturbances arose because the Romanizing aristocrats were planning surrender.

From Josephus by Bentwich, Norman

Is does not occur to us that he would by doing so have been in danger of Romanizing the Mahometan to an extent that might mislead.

From International Weekly Miscellany - Volume 1, No. 9, August 26, 1850 by Various

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

From Early European History by Webster, Hutton

But he failed, and the Romanizing priests' party failed, and the peaceful leaders of the Pharisees failed, to shake their determination.

From Josephus by Bentwich, Norman