Wiktionary

apostate

English

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Etymology

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From Late Latin apostata, from Ancient Greek ἀποστάτης (apostátēs, “rebel”), from ἀφίστημι (aphístēmi, “to withdraw, revolt”), from ἀπό (apó, “from”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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apostate (not comparable)

  1. Guilty of apostasy.
    We must punish this apostate priest.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 608–613:
      VVho can impair thee, mighty King, or bound / Thy Empire? eaſily the proud attempt / Of Spirits apoſtat and thir Counſels vaine / Thou haſt repeld, vvhile impiouſly they thought / Thee to diminiſh, and from thee vvithdravv / The number of thy vvorſhippers.
    • 1711 April 2 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “THURSDAY, March 22, 1710–1711”, in The Spectator, number 19; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
      a wretched and apostate state
      The spelling has been modernized.
    • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 101:
      An enormous number of monks and priests gave themselves up to sorcery, and there was no lack of apostate priests to perform the ceremonies of the Black Mass.

Translations

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Noun

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apostate (plural apostates)

  1. A person who has renounced a religion or faith.
  2. (Roman Catholicism) One who, after having received sacred orders, renounces his clerical profession.
  3. (by extension) One who has renounced a political party, a cause, etc.
    • 2024 July 11, Theodore Schleifer, Jacob Bernstein, Reid J. Epstein, “How Biden Lost George Clooney and Hollywood”, in The New York Times‎[1], →ISSN:
      But the most politically damaging blow came from a late-breaking apostate: Mr. Clooney, who just weeks earlier had spent time with Mr. Biden and helped deliver $28 million to his campaign at a Los Angeles fund-raiser.

Synonyms

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Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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Italian

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Noun

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apostate f

  1. plural of apostata

Portuguese

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Verb

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apostate

  1. inflection of apostatar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

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Verb

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apostate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of apostar combined with te
  2. inflection of apostatar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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