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to spiritualize

to spiritualize

1 8.0
To give something a religious meaning or feeling
  • verb
  • /ˈspɪrɪtʃuəˌlaɪz/
: espiritualizar
  • He believed that nature could help spiritualize one's thoughts and promote inner peace.

Examples

  • A new European aristocracy could in time be spiritualized and aestheticized by philosophers, poets, and artists of the future.

    Academic text (1995)
  • So language is this communal set of rumors, spiritualized by its very vagueness and shared quality.

  • And the mission was always this mass mental health, this idea that what we need is to spiritualize humanity, Einstein said.

  • You don't want to over spiritualize the problem, but you can move through the problem in a human way with of faith beyond the human experience.

  • Religious groups such as our own have a propensity to spiritualize and need always to be re-grounded in the fleshiness of human existence.

    Blog text (26)
  • Yoga practices transform and renew the mind, spiritualizing one's consciousness so that the Atman may be revealed.

    Academic text (2001)
  • Spiritualized elders will guide the middle-aged and younger through the turmoil of cultural materialism.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Perhaps this is why, century after century, we common readers go on clinging to the spiritualizing mentors of traditional faith, who clothe in comforting theologies this God-wrestling and comfortless book.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Through meditation, she aimed to spiritualize her daily experiences and find deeper meaning in life.

  • The teacher encouraged her students to spiritualize their understanding of art by connecting it to their personal beliefs.

Synonyms

to sanctify
vsto spiritualize
16 7.4

To make a person or place holy with a religious ceremony

gives religious meaning or purity rather than performing a formal blessing
to transfigure
vsto spiritualize
  • Literature
5 8.2

To change a person or thing so they look more beautiful and spiritual

gives religious meaning or moral purity rather than focusing on appearance
to sacralize
vsto spiritualize
1 9.9

To make something seem holy or deeply religious

gives religious meaning or increases purity rather than formally declaring it religious
to transcendentalize
vsto spiritualize
  • Literature
1 9.9

To make something seem spiritual and beyond normal life

gives religious meaning or moral purity rather than making it otherworldly
to etherealize
vsto spiritualize
  • Literature
1 9.9

To make something look light and delicate in a spiritual way

gives religious meaning or increases moral purity rather than airiness
to spiritize
vsto spiritualize
  • Archaic
1 9.9

To make something feel holy or full of life

gives religious meaning or increases purity rather than filling with life
to supernaturalize
vsto spiritualize
1 9.9

Give a person or thing powers beyond what is normal

gives religious meaning or moral purity rather than adding otherworldly powers
to pneumatize
vsto spiritualize
  • Formal
9.9

To give people a strong feeling of spiritual power

gives religious meaning or gentle purity rather than supplying strong energy

Antonyms

To become real or happen as hoped

1 8.0

To take words at their exact meaning rather than as a metaphor

How Spiritual

to sanctify
16 7.4
to spiritualize
1 8.0

Surface Forms

spiritualize infinitive
spiritualized past participle
spiritualizing present participle
spiritualizes third person singular

Morphology

spiritualize = spiritual (transparent) = spirit + ual + ize

The verb is transparently formed by adding the productive verb-forming suffix '-ize' to the adjective 'spiritual', meaning 'to make or render spiritual'.

Etymology

Spiritualize comes from spirit, a word that once meant 'breath' or 'soul', and the ending -ize, which means 'make'. So to spiritualize something is to 'make' it spiritual or to give it a deeper, inner meaning.