Atheize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cause a person to abandon belief in God or gods and become an atheist
2. To convert someone into a non-believer who rejects all deities and religious faith
3. To bring another individual to a state of atheism by undermining their religious convictions

Etymology: "Atheize" is a straightforward formation: it combines "atheistic," the adjective built from "atheist," with the suffix "-ize," which turns a noun or adjective into a verb meaning "to make or cause to be" something. Put together, the verb means to make someone become an atheist, or more loosely, to bring someone to disbelieve in God. The "a-" at the front is the Greek negative prefix, meaning "without," while "theos" is the Greek word for "god." An atheist is therefore someone without a god, and the "-ize" suffix, borrowed through Greek and Latin, does the work of turning that state into an action performed on another person. The verb is far rarer than "atheist" or "atheism," and it is typically used in discussions of someone actively persuading another to give up religious belief.