canonization
CulturalExplanation
Canonization is the official act by which the Roman Catholic Church or other Christian denomination declares a person to be a saint. It's only after the person has died that canonization can occur. One way to define canonization is "officially placing in the canon of saints," from the Latin canon, "church rule or calendar of saints." In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, only the Pope can complete a person's canonization, adding the new name to the church's list of saints. But the process has many steps and can take years: The well-known saint Joan of Arc died in 1431, but her canonization wasn't official until 1920.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Last week she celebrated an event whose significance in her beleaguered land extends well beyond the spiritual: the canonization by Pope Leo XIV of two of her compatriots, the first Catholic saints in Venezuelan history.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 28, 2025
Church bells rang out and fireworks burst in the sky Sunday as Venezuela -- mired in crisis -- welcomed the canonization of two of its people as saints.
From Barron's • Oct. 19, 2025
Also worthy of canonization: Larry Graham’s thrumming one-note bass line.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2025
Other Scots were already intending to be in Rome for the canonization of teenage saint Carlo Acutis.
From BBC • Apr. 25, 2025
And then I can return, triumphant, your relics in my arms, and shepherd you through the canonization process myself!
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
