Religiousize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To give something a religious character, nature, or purpose, so that it becomes devotional or sacred in its outlook
2. To render an object, practice, or institution religious in its form, meaning, or spirit where it was not before
3. To invest a thing with religious qualities or significance, transforming it into something devout or spiritual

Etymology: "Religiousize" is formed from "religious" plus the verb-forming suffix "-ize", which comes from Greek "-izein" by way of Latin and French. "Religious" itself comes from Latin "religiosus", meaning scrupulous or devout, and the suffix has been used to turn adjectives into verbs meaning "to make or cause to be" something since the Middle Ages, as in "modernize" or "familiarize". The word means to make something religious in character, or to give it a religious quality or emphasis. Its meaning follows the pattern of the suffix: a thing that is "religiousized" has been made more religious, or more explicitly tied to religion, than before.