canonize
Americanverb (used with object)
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Ecclesiastical. to place in the canon of saints.
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to glorify.
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to make canonical; place or include within a canon, especially of scriptural works.
They canonized the Song of Solomon after much controversy.
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to consider or treat as sacrosanct or holy.
They canonized his many verbal foibles and made them gospel.
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to sanction or approve authoritatively, especially ecclesiastically.
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Archaic. to deify.
verb
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RC Church to declare (a person) to be a saint and thus admit to the canon of saints
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to regard as holy or as a saint
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to sanction by canon law; pronounce valid
Other Word Forms
- canonization noun
- canonizer noun
- supercanonization noun
- uncanonization noun
- uncanonize verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of canonize
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; canon 1 ( def. ) + -ize ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The show’s new profiles include the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint: Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia at age 15 in 2006 and was canonized in September by Pope Leo XIV.
Where might civil rights for Black people be today without the influence of these canonized Black celebrities?
From Salon
As Britpop began to cohere into a recognizable genre and vision, Suede was canonized as its originators, only to be largely eclipsed as bands like Blur and Oasis came to define the movement.
From Los Angeles Times
This year, the league canonized the rivalry, which is said to have begun as geographic, given both teams’ West Coast homes, Reuters reports.
From Los Angeles Times
As we posthumously canonize David Lynch, it might be tempting to assume he came out of the womb the supremely confident, eccentric auteur the world became enthralled by in the 1980s and ’90s.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
