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Glite Dictionary
to latinize

to latinize

9.9
To make a person or group adopt Roman Catholic customs and practices
  • verb
  • /ˈlætɪnaɪz/
translation icon : latinizar
  • The missionaries aimed to latinize the indigenous population by introducing them to Catholic traditions.

Examples

  • Only over time was Gaul, the Balkans, and Spain fully Latinized.

    Blog text (14)

  • Though the Revolution of 1789 gave France a brief respite from this situation, "Napoleon Caesarism repeated the errors of the Romanized Monarchy," by imposing on France a "totally Latinized" code of law.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Many schools were established to latinize students, teaching them about Roman Catholic rites and practices.

  • The government initiated programs to latinize its citizens, encouraging them to adopt Latin Church customs.

Synonyms

to catholicize
vsto latinize
9.9

To make people follow the Catholic religion

causes adoption specifically of rites associated with the Latin Church

Antonyms

to secularize
4 7.6

To remove religious control from places like schools or hospitals

Surface Forms

latinize infinitive
latinized past
latinized past participle
latinizing present participle
latinizes third person singular

Morphology

latinize = Latin (semi-transparent) = latin + ize

The word is built from Latin + -ize, but this specific ecclesiastical sense is a specialized extension rather than a fully predictable everyday meaning.

Etymology

The word latinize comes from Latin, meaning 'of Rome', plus the ending -ize, which means 'to make', as in modernize. So to latinize a church or group is to make it follow Roman Catholic customs and ceremonies.