apostatize

American  

[uh-pos-tuh-tahyz] / əˈpɒs təˌtaɪz /

especially British, apostatise

verb (used without object)

apostatized, apostatizing

1. to commit apostasy.

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apostatize British  

/ əˈpɒstəˌtaɪz /

verb

1. (intr) to forsake or abandon one's belief, faith, or allegiance

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Usage

What does apostatize mean? Apostatize means to totally abandon or reject one’s religion. It can also be used in a slightly more general way to mean to totally abandon or reject one’s principles, cause, party, or other organization. The act of doing so is called apostasy, and someone who does so can be called an apostate. These words typically imply that before the rejection, one had a strong connection or involvement. They are all usually used in a way that’s critical of such abandonment—or that at least implies that others who remain in the religion or cause are critical of the departure. Apostasy is sometimes used more specifically to refer to a rejection of Christianity, but apostasy and apostatize are also used in the context of other religions, such as Islam. Example: The pastor’s sermon condemned those who apostatize—the trouble is, the apostates weren’t there to hear it.

Other Word Forms

• apostatism
  noun
• unapostatized
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of apostatize

From the Late Latin word apostatīzāre, dating back to 1545–55. See apostate, -ize

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Explanation

To apostatize is to give up a belief. Your best friend may do her best to sway you to change your basketball allegiance from the Celtics to the Lakers, but you refuse to apostatize. When someone renounces their religious principles, leaving one faith for another or ceasing to believe at all, they apostatize. The Latin root, apostata, means "one who forsakes religion or faith." This is the most common way to use this verb, but it also works well for changes in political belief: "I never thought he'd apostatize, but he's now a registered Democrat."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

apostatize apostatized apostatizing

The conundrum is one that has nothing to do with Rodrigues’s decision whether to lay down his life, but with his reluctance to apostatize, even in the face of others’ deaths.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 5, 2017

Is this the man likely to apostatize from every principle that can bind him to the State—his birth, his property, his education, his character, and his children?

From Irish Wit and Humor Anecdote Biography of Swift, Curran, O'Leary and O'Connell by Anonymous

Furthermore, under the stress of intolerable circumstances, a few of the Bábís were constrained to recant their faith, while others went so far as to apostatize and join the ranks of the enemy.

From God Passes By by Shoghi Effendi

They will see to it also that conversion shall go on without intimidation, and without danger that through threats of punishment any of those already converted should relapse or apostatize.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 06 of 55 1583-1588 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by James Alexander Robertson

The districts where Christianity had been so widely diffused remained tranquil, and the Christians in the cities where the mutineers were raging did not apostatize; but, unless they could conceal themselves, suffered with the whites. 

From Pioneers and Founders or, Recent Workers in the Mission field by Charlotte Mary Yonge

Third, that those who apostatized from the Nephites, as a general thing, ceased to observe this law.

From An Examination into and an Elucidation of the Great Principle of the Mediation and Atonement of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by John M. (John Metcalf) Taylor

Under this pressure about one-half of the converts apostatized, but the rest threatened to leave Kuchinotsu en masse.

From A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era by F. (Frank) Brinkley

The bolder portion of these malecontents have already apostatized.

From Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 366, April, 1846 by Various

He apostatized, and seems to have betrayed the names of his penitents.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Henry Charles Lea

She, however, as I have since learned, after maintaining her standing in the church for many years, apostatized and became openly abandoned.

From A Practical Directory for Young Christian Females Being a Series of Letters from a Brother to a Younger Sister by Harvey Newcomb

Every opportunity was given for apostatizing and for escaping death.

From A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era by F. (Frank) Brinkley

Many, like him, were apostatizing and dividing into factions, but the main body of the Saints, "taking the Holy Spirit for their guide," stood true to Brigham and the Twelve.

From Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle The Father and Founder of the British Mission by Orson F. Whitney

Therefore we ought not to refuse allegiance to a sovereign on account of his apostatizing from the faith.

From Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province by Saint Thomas Aquinas

Subsequently apostatizing from him and uniting with Mr. Jason W. Briggs, in forming the "Reorganized church."

From Succession in the Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by B. H. Roberts

The term apostate, or apostatizing, can have only an official meaning.

From Leading Articles on Various Subjects by John Davidson

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