beatification

[bee-at-uh-fi-key-shuh n]

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noun

the state of being beatified.

Roman Catholic Church. the official act of the pope whereby a deceased person is declared to be enjoying the happiness of heaven, and therefore a proper subject of religious honor and public cult in certain places.

Origin of beatification

1495–1505; < Late Latin beātificātiōn- (stem of beātificātiō), equivalent to beātificāt(us) (past participle of beātificāre to beatify) + -iōn- -ion; see -ate¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for beatification

adoration, ritual, prayer, rite, devotion, love, adulation, genuflection, respect, idolatry, prostration, veneration, service, homage, idolization, invocation, offering, exaltation, regard, reverence

Examples from the Web for beatification

Contemporary Examples of beatification

More than a million followers came to Rome for the beatification, and many more are expected when he escalates to sainthood.
After Second Approved Miracle, Pope John Paul II Likely to Become a Saint
Barbie Latza Nadeau
July 5, 2013
The speech itself—aimed directly at women and blatant in its beatification of moms—was solid.
Ann Romney: Mitt’s Secret Weapon Sputters
Michelle Cottle
August 29, 2012
To that period belonged the provocation for my play The Beatification of Area Boy.
A City Rejuvenates
Wole Soyinka
March 14, 2011

Historical Examples of beatification

But if the beatification of the world is not a work of nature but a work of art, then it involves an artist.
Orthodoxy
G. K. Chesterton
He is now like Bellarmine ranked among the venerable, and the process of his beatification is proceeding.
The Jesuits, 1534-1921
Thomas J. Campbell
To rightly know myself in my relationship, this, they say, is the only qualification for beatification.
India, Its Life and Thought
John P. Jones
Her beatification commenced yesterday afternoon, exactly at forty minutes after six.
Clarissa Harlowe, Volume 9 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
But I could find it in my heart to regret the witch even now that I am on the eve of beatification.
Jessamine
Marion Harland

Word Origin and History for beatification

c.1500, "act of rendering blessed," from Middle French béatification, noun of action and state from past participle stem of Late Latin beatificare (see beatify). As a papal declaration about the status of a deceased person, it dates from c.1600.