canonize

[kan-uh-nahyz]

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verb (used with object), can·on·ized, can·on·iz·ing.

Ecclesiastical. to place in the canon of saints.

to glorify.

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

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

to sanction or approve authoritatively, especially ecclesiastically.

Archaic. to deify.

Also especially British, can·on·ise.

Origin of canonize

1350–1400; Middle English. See canon¹, -ize

Related formscan·on·i·za·tion, nouncan·on·iz·er, nounsu·per·can·on·i·za·tion, nounun·can·on·i·za·tion, nounun·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. 2019

Related Words for canonize

consecrate, beatify, glorify, love, apotheosize, deify, dedicate, bless, saint, worship, idolatrize

Examples from the Web for canonize

Historical Examples of canonize

It was he who prevailed upon the Pope to canonize Archbishop Anselm.
The Cathedral Church of Canterbury [2nd ed.].
Hartley Withers
Those who thus try to canonize Burns are no true friends to his memory.
Robert Burns
Principal Shairp.
You will still be Saint Hilda, whatever church may canonize you.
The Marble Faun, Volume II.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
But this could hardly be, for the king would not canonize himself, and it is he who will name them when founding them.
The Correspondence of Madame, Princess Palatine, Mother of the Regent; of Marie-Adlade de Savoie, Duchesse de Bourgogne; and of Madame de Maintenon, in Relation to Saint-Cyr
Charlotte-Elisabeth, duchesse d Orlans; Marie Adelaide, of Savoy, Duchess of Burgundy; and Madame de Maintenon
The Democracy, through all its organs, hastened to canonize him as one of the saints of its calendar.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VI (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier

British Dictionary definitions for canonize

canonize

canonise

verb (tr)

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

to regard as holy or as a saint

to sanction by canon law; pronounce valid

Derived Formscanonization 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

Word Origin and History for canonize

late 14c., "to place in the canon or calendar of saints," from Old French cannonisier and directly from Medieval Latin canonizare, from Late Latin canon "church rule" (see canon (n.1)). Related: Canonized; cannonizing.