graecicization

English

Alternative forms

• Graecicization
• Grecicization
• grecicization

Noun

graecicization (plural not attested)

1. The translation of a word or name into the Greek language, or the rendering of it in a Greek form.
   • 1939, The Dublin Magazine, volume 14:

     But the name is a graecicization of an older form of unknown origin (there is also a Céreste in the Alps).

   • 1981, “Turkic-Bulgarian-Hungarian Relations: (VIth-XIth Centuries)”, in Studia Turco-Hungarica, Budapest: Loránd Eötvös University:

     On the other hand, it is more likely that -του reflects an attempt at graecicization by a scribe whose knowledge of Greek and Greek orthography, as the inscription amply demonstrates, was none too secure.

   • 1985, Raymond A. Brown, Evidence for Pre-Greek Speech on Crete from Greek Alphabetic Sources, Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert:

     The form ᾿Ιερἀ Πἑτρα shows a further Graecicization whereby the meaningless Πὐτνα has been replaced by Πἑτρα.

2. A precise transliteration of a Greek word or name that is commonly Latinized or anglicized.
3. The application of the qualities of Greek to another language.
4. The assimilation or acquisition of qualities characteristic of Greek culture, language, or tradition.

Related terms

• Graecicize