Definition

1. Transitive Verb:
   • To convert to Christianity: The primary meaning is to cause someone to adopt the Christian religion, its beliefs, and practices.
   • To adapt or make conform to Christian principles or character: To imbue something (e.g., a custom, a place, an idea) with Christian qualities or to modify it to align with Christian doctrine.

Usage Examples

• Verb (Convert):
  • Early missionaries sought to christianize the tribes of Northern Europe.
  • The king's decision to christianize his kingdom had profound political and cultural effects.
• Verb (Adapt):
  • The church attempted to christianize the local harvest festival by dedicating it to a saint.
  • Some historians argue that the empire's policy was not to destroy local traditions but to christianize them.

Advanced Usage

• Historical and Cultural Context: The term is often used in historical, anthropological, or missiological discussions about the spread of Christianity. It can carry neutral, positive, or critical connotations depending on the context, sometimes implying cultural imposition.
  • The colonizing power's strategy included efforts to christianize the indigenous population.
• The process or result is "Christianization" (noun).
  • The Christianization of the Roman Empire was a gradual process.

Variants and Related Words

• Christianise: (Verb) The British English spelling variant of "christianize".
• Christianization / Christianisation: (Noun) The act, process, or result of christianizing.
• Christian: (Adjective/Noun) The root word, referring to the religion, its followers, or its attributes.
• Evangelize: (Verb) A close synonym meaning to preach the Christian gospel with the aim of converting people.

Synonyms

• Convert to Christianity: Evangelize, proselytize, baptize.
• Make Christian: (No direct single-word synonym; described by the phrase).

Related Phrases

• To bring into the Christian fold: An idiomatic expression for converting someone to Christianity.
  • Their mission was to bring the remote village into the Christian fold.

Verb

1. convert to Christianity
   • missionaries have tried to Christianize native people all over the world
2. adapt in the name of Christianity
   • some people want to Christianize ancient pagan sites