Dehellenized

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. Having had Greek language, customs, and cultural influence removed or suppressed from a people, place, or tradition
2. Describing something that has been deprived of its Hellenic character, values, or intellectual heritage
3. Made no longer Greek in spirit, practice, or identity through deliberate removal of Hellenistic influence

Etymology: "Dehellenized" is the past tense and past participle of "dehellenize," a verb formed by attaching the reversing prefix "de-" to "hellenize," which itself means to make Greek in character, language or culture. The base comes from "Hellenic," the adjective for Greece and the Greeks, ultimately tied to "Hellen," the mythical ancestor of the Greek peoples, so the word traces back to a figure of Greek legend. The verb therefore means to strip away Greek influence or character from something that had absorbed it. Its meaning depends on the older sense of "hellenize" as the process of adopting Greek language and culture, which was itself a historical concept used for the spread of Greek ways after Alexander's conquests. "De-" simply reverses that process, so something that was Hellenized is made no longer Greek in character.

Antonyms: hellenized