romanize

verb

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

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

   “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.””

   “Some of the Chinese students had difficulty comprehending the need to Romanize the Chinese etymons.”

2. (capitalized, historical, transitive, usually)To bring under the authority or influence of Rome.

   “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. (ambitransitive, capitalized, usually)To make or become Roman in character or style.

   “[…] 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.”

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

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

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

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

   “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.”

6. (alt-of)Alternative letter-case form of romanize.

   “‘We don’t like their categorization system,’ explained Anthony. ‘It only makes sense in Roman characters, but not every language is so easily Romanized, is it?’”

7. (transitive)To Romanianize.

   “On the surface, the current debate in Transylvania has to do with minority rights and local issues, like the re-establishment of those Hungarian language schools that had been 'Romanized' by Nicolae Ceausescu, the late dictator.”

   “The Romanian Communist Party also decided to extensively Romanize the cities of Transylvania through a slow, but inexorable policy of reducing Hungarian cultural identity and autonomy.”