apotheosis

Definitions

apo- (off, to the utmost) + theos (god) + -sis (process) = "the process of making into a god." Roman emperors were ceremonially deified after death — that ritual was an apotheosis. The literal meaning then leapt to a metaphor: the apotheosis of something is its supreme, god-like, perfected form.

Why It Means This

Apotheosis literally meant turning a human into a god — the formal deification of dead Roman emperors. Because a god is the most exalted thing imaginable, the word naturally stretched into a metaphor for the peak of anything: "the dish is the apotheosis of French cooking" means it's cooking raised to a divine level. The everyday "supreme example" sense is now far more common than the original religious one.

Common Collocations

• 1.the apotheosis of……的极致
• 2.represent the apotheosis代表极致
• 3.apotheosis of style风格的极致

Example Sentences

• 1.

  This album is the apotheosis of the band's long career.

• 2.

  The ceremony marked the emperor's apotheosis into a god.

• 3.

  Many see the design as the apotheosis of minimalism.