What does heathenize mean?
Heathenize is an archaic transitive verb meaning to make someone or something heathen, especially by converting a person or community to paganism or another religion regarded as non-Christian. In modern English it appears mainly in historical discussion, literary quotation, or as a deliberately charged accusation. Its connotations extend beyond the literal act of conversion: for centuries, English speakers used “heathen” as a dismissive label for non-Christian peoples and cultures, so the verb can recall imperial, missionary, and religious conflict. Writers discussing a specific historical act may need the term, while “paganize” or a more exact description is often clearer in neutral contemporary prose. The word is uncommon, but recognizing it reveals how language tied religious difference to conquest, identity, and power. Used with historical awareness, it can expose those attitudes rather than silently repeat them.
verbTo make heathen; convert (a person, people, or place) to paganism or another religion regarded as non-Christian.
- To convert a person, people, or place to paganism or another religion regarded as non-Christian.
"Critics warned that the proposed reforms would heathenize the nation's cultural heritage."
"The Roman authorities sought to heathenize the temple by replacing its religious images."
"Critics feared that the educational reforms would heathenize the nation."
Once used as a blunt political verb, heathenize preserves the charged history of empires and missionaries describing non-Christian peoples as heathens.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does heathenize come from?
The verb was formed in English by adding the productive suffix -ize to heathen. Heathen descends from Old English hǣþene, a Germanic word historically used for someone regarded as outside the Christian religion, and passed through Middle English into modern usage. Related Germanic forms include Dutch heiden, German Heide, and Old Norse heiðinn.
Related word forms
How heathenize is actually used
Archaic and chiefly historical or literary. It may carry strong religious and imperial connotations, especially when non-European peoples or cultures are described as heathen. The British spelling is also commonly written heathenise.
Easily confused with heathenize
Heathen is chiefly a noun or adjective for a person or religion regarded as non-Christian, whereas heathenize is a verb meaning to make something heathen.