deification

From Middle English deificacion, from Middle French deifier +‎ -acion or borrowed directly from Latin deificātiō, from deificō (“deify”) +‎ -tiō (noun suffix), from deus (“god”) +‎ -ficō (“make”). Equivalent to deify +‎ -ication. In the Christian theological sense influenced by the use of deificātiō as Latin translation of Byzantine Greek θέωσις (théōsis).

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• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

deification (usually uncountable, plural deifications)

1. The act of deifying; exaltation to divine honors; apotheosis.
2. Excessive praise.
3. A deified embodiment.
   • 2013, Ann Leckie, Ancillary Justice:

     We went through the main hall, four-armed Amaat looming, the air still smelling of incense and the heap of flowers at the god's feet and knees, back to a tiny chapel tucked into a corner, dedicated to an old and now-obscure provincial god, one of those personifications of abstract concepts so many pantheons hold, in this case a deification of legitimate political authority.

4. (Christianity, theology) Union with God; theosis.
   • 2010, Paul M. Collins, Partaking in Divine Nature: Deification and Communion, page 108:

     There is an experiential component to Maximos’ writings: he draws upon the reality of the contemplative life and in doing so secures deification as the goal of the monastic spiritual life in Orthodoxy.

• (act of deifying): divinisation or divinization; apotheosis; (chiefly Chinese contexts) euhemerization

• edification