romanize

Meanings

1. 1verbtransitivetechnical

   To write a word or text from another script, such as Russian or Chinese, using the Latin alphabet.

   Grammar: Takes an object: romanize the name.

   Patterns

   • romanize something

   The guidebook romanizes street names so tourists can read them.

   Linguists romanize Japanese in several different systems.

   She romanized the song lyrics so her friends could sing along.

2. 2verbtransitivetechnical

   To make a place or people take on the culture, laws or language of ancient Rome.

   Grammar: Often used in the passive: the region was romanized.

   Patterns

   • romanize a region

   The empire slowly romanized the tribes of Gaul.

   Local elites were romanized within two generations.

Word forms

Common combinations

romanize a name

It is hard to romanize a name from Arabic consistently.

romanize Chinese

Pinyin is the standard way to romanize Chinese.

romanized spelling

Her romanized spelling differs from the official one.

romanize the script

Some countries have tried to romanize the script entirely.

Synonyms and how they differ

transliterate

Transliterate covers any script change, while romanize means specifically into the Latin alphabet.

latinize

Latinize is rarer and may also mean turning words into Latin, whereas romanize usually means writing in the Latin script.

transcribe

Transcribe often means recording how something sounds, but romanize follows a set system for letters.

Word family

romanization noun

the system or act of writing in Latin letters

romanized adjective

written in Latin letters

Roman adjective

relating to Rome or the Latin alphabet

Commonly confused: romanize or romanticize?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “romanize”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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