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Origin and history of apostate

apostate(n.)

mid-14c., "one who forsakes his religion or faith," from Old French apostat and directly from Late Latin apostata (which form also was used in Middle English), from Greek apostasia, apostasis "defection, desertion, rebellion," from apostanai "to defect," literally "to stand off," from apo "off, away from" (see apo-) + stanai, aorist of histanai "to set, place," literally "cause to stand" (from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm").

The word was used from mid-14c. in non-religious situations, "one who has forsaken the party, opinion, etc., to which he previously adhered."

apostate(adj.)

"unfaithful to a religious creed or to a principle," late 14c., see apostate (n.).

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to apostate

apostasy(n.)

also apostacy, late 14c., apostasie, "renunciation, abandonment or neglect of established religion," from Late Latin apostasia, from later Greek apostasia for earlier apostasis "revolt, defection," literally "a standing off," from apostanai "to stand away" (see apostate (n.)).

The general (non-religious) sense of "abandonment of what one has professed" is attested from 1570s.

apostatize(v.)

"abandon one's faith, principles, or church," 1610s, from Late Latin apostatizare, earlier apostatare, from apostata "one who forsakes his religion or faith" (see apostate (n.)). Related: Apostatized; apostatizing. The past participle form apostazied is attested from late 14c.

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renegade
1580s, "an apostate from a religious faith," probably (with change of suffix) from Spanish renegado (also the form of the English word in Hakluyt, etc.), originally "a Christian turned Muslim," from Medieval Latin renegatus, noun use of past participle of renegare "deny" (see ren
recreant
c. 1300, recreaunt, "confessing oneself to be overcome or vanquished, admitting defeat, surrendering, ready to yield in a fight," also a word of surrender, from Old French recreant "defeated, vanquished, yielding, giving; weak, exhausted; cowardly" (also used as a noun), present-
invest
late 14c., "to clothe in the official robes of an office," from Latin investire "to clothe in, cover, surround," from in "in, into" (from PIE root *en "in") + vestire "to dress, clothe," from PIE *wes- (2) "to clothe," extended form of root *eu- "to dress." The meaning "use money
surmise
c. 1400, surmisen, in law, "to charge, allege, accuse" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French surmis, past participle of surmettre "to accuse," from sur- "upon" (see sur- (1)) + mettre "put," from Latin mittere "to send" (see mission). The meaning "infer conjecturally, infer or
hermaphrodite
late 14c. (harmofroditus), from Latin hermaphroditus, from Greek hermaphroditos "person partaking of the attributes of both sexes," as a proper name, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who, in Ovid, was loved by the nymph Salmacis so ardently that she prayed for complete union with
hot dog
also hotdog, "sausage on a split roll," c. 1890, American English, from hot (adj.) + dog (n.). Many early references are in college student publications; later popularized, but probably not coined, by cartoonist T.A. "Tad" Dorgan (1877-1929). It is said in early explanations to e
ecumenical
late 16c., "representing the entire (Christian) world," formed in English as an ecclesiastical word, from Late Latin oecumenicus "general, universal," from Greek oikoumenikos "from the whole world," from he oikoumene ge "the inhabited world (as known to the ancient Greeks); the G
heuristic
"serving to discover or find out," 1821, irregular formation from Greek heuriskein "to find; find out, discover; devise, invent; get, gain, procure" (from PIE *were- (2) "to find;" cognate with Old Irish fuar "I have found") + -istic. As a noun, from 1860. Greek had heuretikos "i
screen
mid-14c., screne, "upright piece of furniture providing protection from heat of a fire, drafts, etc.," probably from a shortened (Anglo-French? compare Anglo-Latin screna) variant of Old North French escren, Old French escran "fire-screen, tester of a bed" (early 14c.). This is o
carbohydrate
general name for a group of organic compounds consisting of carbon atoms in multiples of 6 and hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion of water, 1851, from carbo-, combining form of carbon, + hydrate (n.), denoting compound produced when certain substances combine with water, from

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