canonize
- 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.
Origin of canonize
Related Words for canonize
consecrate, beatify, glorify, love, apotheosize, deify, dedicate, bless, saint, worship, idolatrizeExamples 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 BurnsPrincipal 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-CyrCharlotte-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
canonize
canonise
- 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
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.