romanize

See also: Romanize

English

Alternative forms

• romanise (mainly British)
• Romanize, Romanise

Etymology

Roman +‎ -ize

Verb

1. (transitive) To put letters or words written in another writing system into the Latin (Roman) alphabet.

   Synonyms: Latinize, transliterate

   The author romanizes Chinese names using the Wade–Giles system rather than the Pinyin system.

   • 1912, Lord William Gascoyne-Cecil, Changing China, New York: D. Appleton, Chapter 10, p. 132,^[2]

     A new system has been invented by which Chinese can be written in our letters as pronounced. This is called by the rather uncouth name of “Romanised.”

2. (transitive, historical, usually capitalized) To bring under the authority or influence of Rome.
   • 1658, Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial, London: Hen. Brome, Chapter 2, p. 28,^[3]

     But since this custome was probably disused before their Invasion or Conquest, and the Romanes confessedly practised the same, since their possession of this Island, the most assured account will fall upon the Romanes, or Brittains Romanized.

3. (transitive, intransitive, usually capitalized) To make or become Roman in character or style.
   • 1680, John Dryden, Ovid’s Epistles translated by several hands, London: Jacob Tonson, Preface,^[4]

     […] perhaps he has Romaniz’d his Grecian Dames too much, and made them speak sometimes as if they had been born in the City of Rome, and under the Empire of Augustus.

   • 1790, Thomas Pennant, Of London, London: Robt. Faulder, p. 8,^[5]

     Long before this period, it [London] was fully romanized, and the customs, manners, buildings, and arts of the conqueror adopted.

4. (transitive, intransitive, usually capitalized) To make or become Roman Catholic in religion (by conversion), character or style.

   Synonym: Latinize

   • 1661, John Corbet, The Interest of England in the Matter of Religion, London: George Thomason, Section 11, p. 50,^[6]

     […] the more primitive times of Protestantism were more leaning to that which Romanizing spirits have called Puritanism.

5. (transitive, obsolete) To fill with Latin words or idioms.

   Synonym: Latinize

   • 1668, John Dryden, Of Dramatick Poesie, London: Henry Herringman, p. 50,^[7]

     perhaps too, he [Ben Jonson] did a little to much Romanize our Tongue, leaving the words which he translated almost as much Latine as he found them: wherein though he learnedly followed the Idiom of their language, he did not enough comply with ours.

Derived terms

• romanization

Translations

to put letters or words into the Latin alphabet

• Arabic: رَوْمَنَ (rawmana), نَقْحَرَ (naqḥara), كَرْشَنَ (karšana)
• Catalan: llatinitzar (ca), romanitzar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 羅馬化／罗马化 (zh) (luómǎhuà), 罗马化 (zh) (Luómǎhuà), 拉丁化 (zh) (Lādīnghuà), 用羅馬字拚寫／用罗马字拚写, 用罗马字拚写 (yòng Luómǎzì pīnxiě)

• Dutch: romaniseren (nl), transcriberen
• Finnish: latinaistaa
• French: latiniser (fr), romaniser (fr)
• German: romanisieren (de), latinisieren (de)
• Italian: romanizzare (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: ラテン文字化する (Raten mojika-suru), ローマ字化する (Rōmajika-suru)
• Khmer: ធ្វើរ៉ូមនីយកម្ម (tver rom ney yak kam)
• Malay:

  Rumi: perumian

• Portuguese: romanizar (pt), latinizar
• Russian: латинизи́ровать (ru) (latinizírovatʹ), романизи́ровать (ru) (romanizírovatʹ)
• Spanish: latinizar (es), romanizar (es)
• Vietnamese: Latinh hóa, Latinh hoá

to bring under authority or influence of Rome

• Catalan: llatinitzar (ca), romanitzar (ca)
• Finnish: roomalaistaa
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Vietnamese: La Mã hóa, Latinh hóa

References

• “romanize” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
• NOAD, 2nd ed.

Anagrams

• armozine

---

Portuguese

Verb

romanize