apotheosis

[uh-poth-ee-oh-sis, ap-uh-thee-uh-sis]

See more synonyms for apotheosis on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural a·poth·e·o·ses

[uh-poth-ee-oh-seez, ap-uh-thee-uh-seez] /əˌpɒθ iˈoʊ siz, ˌæp əˈθi əˌsiz/.

the elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god.
the ideal example; epitome; quintessence: This poem is the apotheosis of lyric expression.

Origin of apotheosis

1570–80; < Late Latin < Greek. See apo-, theo-, -osis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for apotheosis

elevation, idolization, deification, immortalization

Examples from the Web for apotheosis

Contemporary Examples of apotheosis

That transformation of the brand seems now to have its apotheosis in the arrival of the Tour de France.
A British Start to the Tour de France Forces the English to Wonder: What Does Being English Mean Anymore?
Clive Irving
July 6, 2014
Dance is a vehicle for personal expression, community storytelling, and the apotheosis of ceremony.
Challenging Religious Tradition for the Love of God — and the Love of Dance
Moral Courage
June 16, 2014
If life has such a thing as an apotheosis, it surely involves truffled capon.
The Queen of the French Kitchen
Katie Baker
March 26, 2014
Over the course of these novels, the style becomes increasingly parsimonious, reaching its apotheosis in The Golden Bowl.
Henry James’s 1904 Sordid Little Sex Farce
Nathaniel Rich
January 30, 2014
These triumphs were seen as the apotheosis of human enterprise and might.
The 2013 Novel of the Year Is…
Nathaniel Rich
December 30, 2013

Historical Examples of apotheosis

The little green serge curtain was then closed on this apotheosis.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
He pronounced the panegyric of Robespierre, and the apotheosis of Marat.
Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, Complete
Lewis Goldsmith
The old town of Cherbourg was experiencing its semi-weekly apotheosis.
The Destroyer
Burton Egbert Stevenson
It is difficult to trace the origin of this new theology, the apotheosis of the Dog.
Lippincott's Magazine, September, 1885
Various
The apotheosis of these powers led to the conception of the first deity.
The Evolution of the Dragon
G. Elliot Smith

British Dictionary definitions for apotheosis

apotheosis

noun plural -ses (-siːz)

the elevation of a person to the rank of a god; deification
glorification of a person or thing
a glorified ideal
the best or greatest time or eventthe apotheosis of De Niro's career

Word Origin for apotheosis

C17: via Late Latin from Greek: deification, from theos god

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for apotheosis

1600s, from Late Latin apotheosis "deification," from Greek apotheosis, from apotheoun "deify, make (someone) a god," from apo- special use of this prefix, meaning, here, "change" + theos "god" (see Thea).