Germanize

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Etymology tree
English German
Proto-Indo-European *-id-
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti
Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō
Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor.
Late Latin -izōder.
Middle French -iserbor.
Middle English -isen
English -ize
English Germanize

    From German + -ize.

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    Germanize (third-person singular simple present Germanizes, present participle Germanizing, simple past and past participle Germanized)

    1. (transitive) To give a German character to (something).
      to Germanize a province, a language, or a society
      • 1751, Benjamin Franklin, Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc.:
        Why should Pennsylvania […] become a Colony of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us, instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our language or customs, any more than they can acquire our complexion?
      • 1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 183:
        In the preceding centuries the Ashkenazic Synagogue song had been Germanized to a degree that jeopardized not only its distinctive Jewishness but its very existence.
    2. (intransitive) To adopt German customs or culture.

    Derived terms

    Translations

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