absolutizev.
/ˈabsəluːtʌɪz/, /ˌabsəˈluːtʌɪz/, /ˈabsəljuːtʌɪz/, /ˌabsəˈljuːtʌɪz/, U.S. /ˈˌæbsəˈˌl(j)utaɪz/ Chiefly Philosophy and Theology.
transitive. To make absolute; to convert into an absolute. Opposed to relativize.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > make complete [verb (transitive)] > make absolute
absolutize1865
1865 J. H. Stirling Secret of Hegel I. 108 It is possible to figure what is for itself as something with qualities—a crystal of salt—in which case there is a mean of passage from the one to the many. Absolutise this crystal to the world: the one is the many, the many the one—or the whole of many, which is Quantity.
1893 E. Boirac tr. F. Rauh in Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 3 391 The relative does not relativize the absolute; it is the absolute which absolutizes the relative.
1936 Mind 45 74 These are generic and not individualised..modes of absolutising what is merely relative.
1976 M. F. Wiles in Christian Believing 131 He was particularly critical of those who absolutized the tradition.
1991 Dædalus Summer 206 By absolutizing itself the state claims..the power to organize life and command the obedience of men and women.
Derivatives
ˈabsolutizing n.
ΚΠ
1869 G. Haven National Serm. 287 This prophetic word..will prevent the absolutizing of America.
1952 Ess. in Crit. 2 371 Death as the ‘absolutizing’ of the real experience of sleep.
1977 C. H. Talbert What is Gospel? v. 122 The misuse of the earthly Jesus..was basically achieved by means of an absolutizing of some part of the tradition.
2006 D. Deane Nietzsche & Theol. iii. 108 (heading) Nietzsche's biological absolutising of struggle.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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