canonize

[ kan-uh-nahyz ]
See synonyms for: canonizecanonization on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),can·on·ized, can·on·iz·ing.
  1. Ecclesiastical. to place in the canon of saints.: Compare beatify (def. 2).

  2. to glorify.

  1. to make canonical; place or include within a canon, especially of scriptural works: They canonized the Song of Solomon after much controversy.

  2. to consider or treat as sacrosanct or holy: They canonized his many verbal foibles and made them gospel.

  3. to sanction or approve authoritatively, especially ecclesiastically.

  4. Archaic. to deify.

Origin of canonize

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; canon1 + -ize
  • Also especially British, can·on·ise .

Other words from canonize

  • can·on·i·za·tion, noun
  • can·on·iz·er, noun
  • su·per·can·on·i·za·tion, noun
  • un·can·on·i·za·tion, noun
  • un·can·on·ize, verb (used with object), un·can·on·ized, un·can·on·iz·ing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use canonize in a sentence

  • Julius Cæsar was canonised, because it was thought he was translated to a new star, discovered at the hour of his death.

  • Though never canonised himself, Old Jolyon's natural fastidiousness and balance had saved him from the errors of the vulgar.

  • So for every commonplace marriage there is a canonised love, and the story is told in the old Greek civilisation by the Hetairæ.

  • Like his cousin, Edward became a popular, though not a canonised, saint.

  • The Greek Church canonised the fourteen thousand innocents; and another notion, founded on a misinterpretation of Rev. xiv.

British Dictionary definitions for canonize

canonize

canonise

/ (ˈkænəˌnaɪz) /


verb(tr)
  1. RC Church to declare (a person) to be a saint and thus admit to the canon of saints

  2. to regard as holy or as a saint

  1. to sanction by canon law; pronounce valid

Derived forms of canonize

  • canonization or canonisation, noun

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