romanize
romanize Lexical Profile
romanize Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To transliterate or transcribe text from a different writing system into the Latin (Roman) alphabet.
"Linguists developed the Pinyin system to romanize Mandarin Chinese characters for international readers."
To bring a region, culture, or people under the influence, authority, or customs of ancient Rome.
"The empire sought to romanize the newly conquered provinces by building aqueducts, forums, and amphitheaters."
To make Roman Catholic in character, doctrine, or allegiance, or to convert to Roman Catholicism.
"Critics accused the liturgical reformers of attempting to romanize the traditional Protestant service."
Word Nuance & Usage
Often capitalized as 'Romanize', especially when referring to historical ancient Roman culture or the Roman Catholic Church, though lowercase 'romanize' is standard in linguistics when referring to transliteration into the Latin alphabet.
• Rhymes for romanize
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the early 17th century from 'Roman' (from Latin 'Romanus', relating to Rome) combined with the verbal suffix '-ize'.