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to Arabize

to Arabize

8.8
Make people or places start to use Arabic language and customs
  • verb
  • /ˈærəˌbaɪz/
translation icon : arabizar
  • While standard Spanish displays a considerable Semitic overlay in its vocabulary, Islamic Spanish has gone much further in Arabizing its syntax and semantics as well.

Examples

  • The government implemented policies to Arabize public institutions in order to promote Arabic culture.

  • The city and its environs, once heavily Kurdish, were "Arabized" by Saddam in an effort to weaken the Kurdish hold on Iraq's northern oil-producing region.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Efforts to Arabize the curriculum were made to ensure that students learned about Arab history and literature.

  • Many families chose to Arabize their children's names to reflect their cultural heritage.

Synonyms

to acculturate
vsto Arabize
  • Specialized
1 8.2

Learn and use the customs and ways of another group

targets one specific culture's language and customs rather than general change

How Arabic

to assimilate
77 6.1
to Arabize
8.8
to adapt
178 3.2
to influence
591 2.2

Surface Forms

Arabize infinitive
Arabized past
Arabized past participle
Arabizing present participle
Arabizes third person singular

Morphology

Arabize = Arab (transparent) = Arab + ize

Clear verb-forming suffix '-ize' added to 'Arab' yields the meaning 'make or become Arab/Arabic', which learners can infer from known parts.

Etymology

Arabize comes from Arab and the ending -ize, where -ize means 'make' or 'become'. So to Arabize people or a system is to make them adopt Arabic language or customs.