canonize

Verb

canonize (third-person singular simple present canonizes, present participle canonizing, simple past and past participle canonized)

1. (British, English, Oxford, US, transitive) To declare (a deceased person) as a saint, and enter them into the canon of saints.
   • Thomas Becket was canonized in 1173.
   • Wée maye woorſhippe neyther the Virgine Marie, neyther the Apoſtles, neyther any Saincte, neyther make holy dayes, or Temples for them, muche leſſe Canonize them, which comprehendeth all theſe.1572, [Christopher Carlile], “The Second Discovrs, wherein is Proued, that neyther Peter, nor the Pope, is the Head of Christes Church”, in A Discourse. Wherein is Plainly Proued by the Order of Time...

   Synonyms:

   saint

   Antonyms:

   uncanonize

2. (British, English, Oxford, US, figuratively, transitive) To regard as a saint; to glorify, to exalt to the highest honour.
   • She is a theame of honour and renowne, / A ſpurre to valiant and magnanimous deeds, / Whoſe preſent courage may beate downe our foes, / And fame in time to come canonize us, [...]c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609...
   • The Poet puts all his Wit into the Mouths of Rooks and Bullies; and if an honeſt Man appear, he is ſure to be hooted at, and generally goes off both Fool and Cuckold. Is not this to condemn Virtue? to execute it in Effigie? and to canonize Vice by Deputy?1704, [William Darrell], “Dialogue VI. Eusebius Instructs Neander in the Duties that Regard our Neighbour.”, in A Gentleman Instructed in the Conduct of a Virtuous and Happy Life. […], 2nd edition...
3. (British, English, Oxford, US, transitive) To formally declare (a piece of religious writing) to be part of the biblical canon.
   • Yet becauſe there are Two Pretences made; One, that elſewhere he Canonizeth all the reſt of the Conteſted Books; and another, that in this place he detracteth nothing in that behalf from the Books of the Maccabes, we will clear the way before us, and anſwer them both.1657, [John] Cosin, “The Testimonies of the Ecclesiastical Writers in the Seventh Century”, in A Scholastical History of the Canon of the Holy Scripture: Or The Certain and Indubitate Books thereof...
   • Not all psalms that claim Davidic authorship were included in the canon, but those that were canonized frequently had this association.2017, Timothy H. Lim, “An Indicative Definition of the Canon”, in Timothy H. Lim with Kengo Akiyama, editors, When Texts are Canonized (Brown Judaic Studies; no. 359), Providence, R.I.: Brown Judaic...

   Antonyms:

   uncanonize

4. (British, English, Oxford, US, broadly, transitive) To regard (an artistic or written work or its creator) as one of a group that are representative of a particular field.
   • To these errors the Middle Ages contributed not a little by canonizing all the ancient authorities so that when modern historical criticism came into vogue the reaction against authority went too far and skepticism overleaped the mark.1930, Tenney Frank, “Republican Historiography and Livy”, in Life and Literature in the Roman Republic, Berkeley; Los Angeles, Calif.; London: University of California Press, published 1971, →ISBN...
   • [I]n canonizing horror films and ranking serial killers among the entertainment elite, have we made the perilous environment that lies just beyond the coursing marquee lights and pale glow of the video monitor an even more dangerous space?1994, Jonathan Lake Crane, “Terror and Everyday Life”, in Terror and Everyday Life: Singular Moments in the History of the Horror Film, Thousand Oaks, Calif.; London: SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 1
5. (British, English, Oxford, US, transitive) Especially of a church: to give official approval to; to authorize, to sanction.
   • He ſhews, the Legate's Drift was to Canonize all the Abuſes of the Court of Rome: ſo they never ſuffer'd them to be treated of freely, but managed them like the Compounding of a Law-Suit: [...]1715, Gilbert [Burnet], “Book IV. Of what Happen’d during the Reign of King Edward the VIth, from the Year 1547, to the Year 1553.”, in The History of the Reformation of the Church of England. The...
   • [T]hat a rhetorician, like Libanius, a Pagan even to madneſs, ſhould think the Chriſtians capable of attempting the life of Julian, is not ſurpriſing. [...] But that an eccleſiaſtical hiſtorian, like Sozomen, ſhould be tempted to canoniſe ſo deteſtable an action, might perhaps not be credited on my...1784, [Jean-Philippe-René] de La Bléterie, “History of the Emperor Jovian”, in John Duncombe, transl., Select Works of the Emperor Julian, and Some Pieces of the Sophist Libanius, Translated from the...

   Antonyms:

   uncanonize