postate, a post at a

& a. [In Ger. & Fr. a post at; Sp., Port., Ital., & Lat. a post at a. Gr. ἀποστάτης ( apostates ) = (1) a runaway slave, a deserter, a rebel; (2) see below; ἀποστατέω ( apostateō ) = to stand aloof.] [APOSTATIZE.] A. As substantive : 1. A rebel against the Divine authority; one who has cast off the allegiance which he owes to God. "High in the midst, exalted as a god, The apostate in his sun-bright chariot sat." Milton : P. L. , bk. vi. 2. One who abandons the religion which he has previously profe ed, or the church with which he has before been connected. In the Church of Rome one is also deemed an apostate who, without a legal dispensation, quits a religious order which he has entered. And whoso pa ed that point Was a post at a in the ordre. Piers Plowman , 667-8. (Trench.) "The character of Apostate has injured the reputa tion of Julian."- Gibbon : Decl. and Fall , ch. xxiii. 3. One who similarly abandons his political creed or party. "If a name be found where it ought not to be, the apostate is certain to be reminded in sharp language of the promises which he has broken and of the profe ions which he has belied."- Macaulay : Hist. Eng., chap. xv. B. As adjective: Rebel; rebellious. One who has cast off the allegiance which he owes to God, or has abandoned a faith formerly held, or a church, or a political party to which he previously adhered. "So spake the apostate angel, IMG:content-0622.png:[ocr errors]