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

Etymology

Origin of apostatize

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

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

He had made Phocyas apostatize from his religion; after which the abhorrence of Eudocia would have been reasonable, his misery would have been just, and the horrours of his repentance exemplary.

From Lives of the Poets, Volume 1 by Johnson, Samuel

The revolt in Cagayan in 1718 finishes the mission, for its inhabitants apostatize and take to the mountain.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 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, Volume XLIII, 1670-1700 by Various

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

He was immediately cast into prison, and alternate threats and promises were employed to induce him to apostatize.

From Mary, Help of Christians And the Fourteen Saints Invoked as Holy Helpers: Instructions, Novenas and Prayers with Thoughts of the Saints for Every Day in the Year by Burke, John J. (John James)

In what spirit the State regarded its relations with the Holy Office was exhibited in 1356, when Frà Michele da Pisa, the Inquisitor of Treviso, imprisoned some Jewish converts who had apostatized.

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

One whom I knew well, though he was not of our Mission, apostatized to save his life, and died most miserably, abandoned by his new fellow-religionists, and tenderly watched by those whom he had left.

From Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877 by Kennedy, James

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 Newcomb, Harvey

Basilides and Marcial, Bishops of Astorga and Merida, apostatized; they were reconciled to the church without any punishment but degradation, to which they submitted before the year 253, when they appealed to Pope Stephen.

From The History of the Inquisition of Spain from the Time of its Establishment to the Reign of Ferdinand VII. by Llorente, Juan Antonio

Their constancy repaired the scandal given by Eudæmon, the bishop of Smyrna, there present, who had impiously apostatized and offered sacrifice.

From The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints January, February, March by Butler, Alban

Let us just see, in reference not to mere words, but to things, what can be truly meant by the terms ‘apostate or apostatizing Government,’ as applied to the Government of Great Britain.

From Leading Articles on Various Subjects by Davidson, John

It must not be supposed from the frequent quotations from Countess von Stachelberg's condemnations of German cruelties that she was an unpatriotic woman, repudiating, apostatizing from her own country.

From Mrs. Warren's Daughter A Story of the Woman's Movement by Johnston, Harry Hamilton, Sir

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 Thomas, Aquinas, Saint

What was the fountain of this people's corruption, and apostatizing from their professions?

From The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning by Binning, Hugh

Without openly apostatizing, they insisted on a measure of independence.

From The Story of the Mormons, from the date of their origin to the year 1901 by Linn, William Alexander