divinize

A king is divinized by his people after his death.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To make divine: "divinize" means to regard, treat, or elevate someone or something as divine or godlike.
   • To deify: to worship or exalt to the status of a god.
   • To sanctify: to make holy or sacred in a metaphorical or religious sense.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Some ancient cultures divinized their emperors, believing them to be gods on earth. (They elevated their rulers to a divine status.)
  • In poetry, love is often divinized, portrayed as a transcendent, godlike force. (Love is treated as something sacred and divine.)
  • The philosopher warned against the tendency to divinize human leaders, as it can lead to tyranny. (To regard leaders as infallible or godlike.)

Advanced Usage

• "to divinize nature": to attribute divine qualities to the natural world.

  • Romantic poets often divinized nature, seeing it as a manifestation of the divine. (They saw nature as sacred and godlike.)

• "to divinize the self": in philosophical or spiritual contexts, to view the human self as inherently divine.

  • Some mystical traditions teach that one can divinize the self through spiritual practices. (To realize or cultivate one's own divine nature.)

Variants and Related Words

• Divinization (n): the act or process of making something divine.

  • The divinization of the king was a central ritual in the ancient empire. (The process of declaring the king a god.)

• Divinity (n): the state or quality of being divine; a god or goddess.

  • The divinity of the river was worshipped by local tribes. (The sacred, godlike nature of the river.)

• Deify (v): a synonym for divinize; to make a god of.

  • The Romans deified many of their emperors after death. (They declared them gods.)

Synonyms

• Deify: to make or consider someone or something a god.
• Sanctify: to make holy or set apart as sacred.
• Exalt: to praise or elevate highly, often to a divine level.
• Apotheosize: to elevate to the status of a god (formal or literary).

Phrasal Verbs

• Divinize as: to treat or regard as divine in a specific role.

  • The people divinized the sun as a source of life. (They worshipped the sun as a god.)

• Divinize through: to make divine by means of a particular action or process.

  • The ritual divinized the priest through sacred chants. (The ceremony elevated the priest to a divine state.)

Related Idioms

• To put on a pedestal: to idealize or treat someone as perfect, similar to divinizing.

  • Fans often divinize celebrities, putting them on a pedestal. (They treat them as flawless or godlike.)

• To worship the ground someone walks on: to admire or revere someone excessively, akin to divinizing.

  • He divinized his mentor, almost worshipping the ground she walked on. (He regarded her with extreme reverence.)