apostate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English apostata, also apostate,^[2] borrowed from Old French apostate and directly borrowed from Late Latin apostata,^[3][4][5][2] from Ancient Greek ἀποστάτης (apostátēs, “rebel, deserter, runaway slave”),^[3][1][5][6] from ἀφίστημι (aphístēmi, “to withdraw, revolt”),^[1][7] from ἀπό (apó, “from”) and ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”),^[1] from Proto-Indo-European *sta- (“to stand”).^[4] The OED notes that the Latin form was by far the commoner one in English from 1350 to 1650.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who forsakes his or her religious faith: 1340, in the Ayenbite.^[3][2] Etymonline dates it to the mid-14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word entered English as a religious term, and it was soon extended: from 1362, in Langland's Piers Plowman, it could mean someone who deserts a party or allegiance.^[3][4] A narrower Roman Catholic use, for someone who renounces religious vows without dispensation, is recorded from before 1387, in Trevisa.^[3] The adjective followed in the Wycliffite Bible.^[3] In 1671, in Marvell, it was used of deserting principles or a party in general.^[3] A verb apostate, to apostatize, was used from 1596 to 1679.^[3] Johnson (1755) defined the noun as one who has forsaken his profession, "generally applied to one that has left his religion".^[8]

Timeline

• 1340 – a person who forsakes his or her religious faith.^[3][2]
• 1362 – a person who deserts a party or allegiance; a turncoat.^[3]
• before 1387 – in the Roman Catholic Church, a person who renounces religious vows without dispensation.^[3]
• before 1425 – adjective, unfaithful to a religion or moral allegiance.^[3]
• 1596 – verb, to apostatize (obsolete by 1679).^[3]
• 1671 – adjective, deserting principles or a party.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who gives up a religious faith: The council condemned him as an apostate.^[9][10][3]
2. A person who abandons a party, cause or set of beliefs; a renegade or turncoat.^[9][10][3]
3. (Roman Catholic Church) A person who renounces religious vows without dispensation.^[3][5]

Adjective

1. Guilty of apostasy; unfaithful to a religion or moral allegiance.^[9][10][3]
2. Deserting principles or a party.^[10][3]

Related words

• apostasy
• apostatize
• stand

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster