Apostatising

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The practice of rejecting or renouncing one's previously held religious beliefs or affiliations can signify a significant change in personal ideology
2. The abandonment of established religious principles and the formal disengagement from a faith community may reflect deeper philosophical transformations
3. Rejecting or turning away from a previously embraced religion, often involving a formal declaration

Etymology: "Apostatising" is the British spelling of "apostatizing," the present participle of "apostatise," which means to renounce one's religious faith. Its root reaches back to Greek "apostasia," built from "apo," meaning "away from," and "stasis," meaning "standing" or "position," so the core image is of stepping away from a place where one has stood. The Greek noun was used in the Septuagint, the early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, and carried the sense of defection or rebellion against a religious or political authority before it narrowed to the abandonment of faith. The verb came into English through Late Latin "apostatare," which the Church Fathers used in the same sense, and English has used forms of it since the Middle Ages. The "-ise" ending follows the pattern of many verbs borrowed from Greek and Latin, and the spelling "-ize" is the more common form in American usage.