Apostatised

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A person has chosen to reject or abandon their previously held religious beliefs or political convictions
2. An individual has forsaken their allegiance to a specific faith or ideology, often in favor of alternative beliefs
3. To renounce or abandon one's previously held religious or political beliefs in favor of different ideologies or practices

Etymology: "Apostatised" is the past tense and past participle of "apostatise," the British spelling of "apostatize." The verb is built on the noun "apostate," which came into English from Latin "apostata," itself borrowed from Greek "apostatēs," meaning "one who stands away from" or "deserter." The Greek root combines "apo-," meaning "away from," with "histanai," meaning "to stand," so the original sense was physical: stepping away from a position or post. The word's religious meaning took hold through the early Christian and Greek-speaking world, where an apostate was someone who abandoned the faith they had once professed. English kept that core sense, so to apostatise is to renounce a belief system you once held. The political use, abandoning a party or cause, is a later extension of the same idea of standing apart from a group you used to belong to.

Synonyms: renounced, defected