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

How could men apostatize from a cause which they had served with unflinching fidelity until it was completely triumphant?

From Political Recollections 1840 to 1872 by George W. Julian

This edict of 1616 differed from that issued by Ieyasu in 1614, since the latter did not explicitly prescribe the death-penalty for converts refusing to apostatize.

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

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

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 John J. (John James) Burke

But when no Portuguese ship arrived, he apostatized; ordered his vassals to return to their old faith, and expelled the missionaries.

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

One of these, Thomas B. Marsh, had apostatized, and the other, the lamented David W. Patten, was now filling a martyr's grave.

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

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

In the meantime the South had apostatized from the faith of Jefferson.

From The Impending Crisis of the South How to Meet It by Hinton Rowan Helper

Vincent's next master was a Frenchman who had apostatized and was living as a Mohammedan on his farm in the mountains.

From Life of St. Vincent de Paul by F. A. (Frances Alice) Forbes

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 Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston

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

From Leading Articles on Various Subjects by John Davidson

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

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

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

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 William Alexander Linn

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