apotheosis

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a·poth·e·o·sis

(ə-pŏth′ē-ō′sĭs, ăp′ə-thē′ə-sĭs)

n. pl. a·poth·e·o·ses (-sēz′)

1. Exaltation to divine rank or stature; deification.

2. Elevation to a preeminent or transcendent position; glorification: "tried to attribute Warhol's current apotheosis to the subversive power of artistic vision" (Michiko Kakutani).

3. An exalted or glorified example: Their leader was the apotheosis of courage.

[Late Latin apotheōsis, from Greek, from apotheoun, to deify : apo-, change; see apo- + theos, god; see dhēs- in Indo-European roots.]

apotheosis

(əˌpɒθɪˈəʊsɪs)

n, pl -ses (-siːz)

1. (Theology) the elevation of a person to the rank of a god; deification

2. glorification of a person or thing

3. a glorified ideal

4. the best or greatest time or event: the apotheosis of De Niro's career.

[C17: via Late Latin from Greek: deification, from theos god]

a•poth•e•o•sis

(əˌpɒθ iˈoʊ sɪs, ˌæp əˈθi ə sɪs)

n., pl. -ses (-siz, -ˌsiz)

1. the elevation of a person to the rank of a god.

2. the ideal example; epitome.

[1570–80; < Late Latin < Greek. See apo-, theo-, -osis]

apotheosis

any kind of honoring or glorification of a person. See also god and gods.

apotheosis

noun deification, elevation, exaltation, glorification, idealization, idolization This was the time of the star's apotheosis.

apotheosis

noun

The act of raising to a high position or status or the condition of being so raised:

aggrandizement, elevation, ennoblement, exaltation, glorification.

Translations

apotheosis

[əˌpɒθɪˈəʊsɪs] N (apotheoses (pl)) [əˌpɒθɪˈəʊsiːz] → apoteosis f

apotheosis

[əˌpɒθiˈəʊsɪs] (formal) n

(= epitome) → quintessence f
the apotheosis of sth → l'exemple même de qch

(= high point) → apothéose f

apotheosis

n → Apotheose f (liter) → (into zu)

apotheosis

[əˌpɒθɪˈəʊsɪs] n

a. apotheosis of → perfetto esempio di

b. (Art) → apoteosi f inv

References in classic literature ?

How strange was this miracle of fame, I pondered, this strange apotheosis by which a mere private name becomes a public symbol

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The apotheosis was worthy of these three heroes whom fable would have placed in the rank of demigods.

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A woman, in an atmosphere of red-hot enthusiasm, witnesses the apotheosis of Physical Strength.

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All comprehension is creation; the woman I love is somewhat of my handiwork; and the great lover, like the great painter, is he that can so embellish his subject as to make her more than human, whilst yet by a cunning art he has so based his apotheosis on the nature of the case that the woman can go on being a true woman, and give her character free play, and show littleness, or cherish spite, or be greedy of common pleasures, and he continue to worship without a thought of incongruity.

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She disappeared in a kind of sulphurous apotheosis, and when a few years later Medora again came back to New York, subdued, impoverished, mourning a third husband, and in quest of a still smaller house, people wondered that her rich niece had not been able to do something for her.

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I see my own apotheosis, my public funeral, my nation's tears, my burial in the glorious church.

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He had entitled the story "Adventure," and it was the apotheosis of adventure - not of the adventure of the storybooks, but of real adventure, the savage taskmaster, awful of punishment and awful of reward, faithless and whimsical, demanding terrible patience and heartbreaking days and nights of toil, offering the blazing sunlight glory or dark death at the end of thirst and famine or of the long drag and monstrous delirium of rotting fever, through blood and sweat and stinging insects leading up by long chains of petty and ignoble contacts to royal culminations and lordly achievements.

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It was the Apotheosis of the Bunny," said he, but in a tone I never shall forget.

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and he, the hind hoofs, the truck, and Edward, all seemed to fly into the air together, in a kind of apotheosis.

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In open-mouthed wonder the lama turned to this and that, and finally checked in rapt attention before a large alto- relief representing a coronation or apotheosis of the Lord Buddha.

View in context

They are entitled The Apotheosis of British Genre, on Victorians' self portraits, and The Kitchen Sink, which discusses the Pre-Raphaelites.

Painting lectures

Accordingly, the question faced by this exhibition (comprising seventeen installations, sculptural objects, and films from 1993 to today) is whether--even as art and architecture seem to be racing each other toward the apotheosis of eye-popping entertainment value--any transgressive frisson between the two disciplines is still possible.

"Olafur Eliasson: Verklighetsmaskiner/Reality Machines"

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Noun	1.	apotheosis - model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal nonesuch, nonpareil, nonsuch, paragon, ideal, saint crackerjack, jimdandy, jimhickey - someone excellent of their kind; "he's a jimdandy of a soldier" role model, model - someone worthy of imitation; "every child needs a role model" class act - someone who shows impressive and stylish excellence humdinger - someone of remarkable excellence; "a humdinger of a secretary"
	2.	apotheosis - the elevation of a person (as to the status of a god) deification, exaltation worship - the activity of worshipping