Mongrelizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To mix or breed different varieties or races, particularly in reference to animals or plants
2. To dilute or compromise the quality of something by introducing elements from various sources
3. To give rise to hybridization often resulting in an undesirable or inferior outcome

Etymology: Mongrel has a murky past. Its root is probably the Middle English "mong", meaning to mix, which is tied to the Old English "mengan", and the "-rel" ending is a diminutive, so the word originally named a small animal of mixed breed. Its use for people, meaning a person of mixed or low origin, came later and carried an insult. The verb "mongrelize" is a plain English formation: "mongrel" plus the suffix "-ize", which makes a verb meaning to make something into a certain condition. That suffix has a long route. It was borrowed from Greek "-izein", passed into Latin as "-izare", moved through Old French, and reached English in Middle English as "-isen", later spelled "-ize". So to mongrelize something is, literally, to make it mongrel.