ˈkanəˌnīz transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English canonizen, from Medieval Latin canonizare, from Late Latin canon — more at canon (rule)
1. : to declare (a deceased person) a saint : put in the catalog of saints : saint — compare beatify
2. : to include in a canon especially of Scripture : make canonical
3. : to sanction or ratify by or as if by ecclesiastical authority
4. archaic : to make into a god or into something divine : apotheosize
5. : to regard as sanctioned, rightly and securely established, or sacrosanct
canonized as dean of drama critics
his mother had canonized all his timidities as common sense — Scott Fitzgerald