canonize

C2+ Topic:Religion & Belief

Also spelled canonisation

US /ˈkænəˌnaɪz/ UK /ˈkænənaɪz/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to declare officially a saint; to treat as authoritative or sacred

The pope moved to canonize the long-revered nun.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to declare officially a... sanctify beatify glorify deify consecrate

Opposites

excommunicateanathematize

Word family

Forms canonisedcanonization

Derived forms canonizationcanonizer

Related forms canon canonical canonic

Etymology

From Medieval Latin canonizāre ('to admit to the canon of saints'), from Latin canōn ('rule, list'), from Ancient Greek kanōn ('rule').

canonizāre Latin kanōn Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Religion & Belief Word Formation & Derivatives

# canonize

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ˈkænəˌnaɪz
**IPA (UK):** ˈkænənaɪz

## Meanings
1. to declare officially a saint; to treat as authoritative or sacred

## Examples
- The pope moved to canonize the long-revered nun.

## Synonyms
- sanctify
- beatify
- glorify
- deify
- consecrate

## Antonyms
- excommunicate
- anathematize

## Derived Forms
- canonization
- canonizer

## Related Forms
- canon
- canonical
- canonic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: canonizāre
- Root: kanōn

## Etymology
From Medieval Latin canonizāre ('to admit to the canon of saints'), from Latin canōn ('rule, list'), from Ancient Greek kanōn ('rule').

## AI Etymology
Canonize comes from Medieval Latin canonizāre ('to admit to the canon of saints'), from Latin canōn ('rule, list'), from Ancient Greek kanōn ('rule'). The historical trail runs through canonizāre in Latin and kanōn in Ancient Greek. Used as a verb, canonize now means "declare officially a saint; to treat as authoritative or sacred", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as canonization and canonizer and related forms such as canon, canonical, and canonic. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Religion & Belief
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown

canonize

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback