Faith & RitualGreek → English
Apostate
/əˈpɒsteɪt/noun
A person who renounces a religious or political allegiance.
The Greek roots
ἀπό
apó
away from
ἵστημι
hístēmi
to stand
Literally: “one who stands away”
The story of the word
In Attic Greek an ἀποστάτης was a runaway slave or a rebel who had walked out on his king, a term of law and war rather than doctrine. Christian writers of the fourth century fixed it on the emperor Julian, who was raised Christian and tried to restore the old gods, and he has been Julian the Apostate ever since. The label is always applied from the side that was left.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
Same family
apostasystasisecstasysystemstatic
In a sentence
To his old congregation he was an apostate; to his new friends, simply honest.