unchristen
Revoke holy naming
To unchristen is to strip away a name or identity that was formally bestowed—the opposite of christening.
A ship might be unchristened before being renamed; a person might unchristen themselves by abandoning a birth name: She unchristened herself at eighteen and chose her own name.
The word suggests undoing something ceremonial or official.
Violate what's sacred
- profaneIrreverent toward the sacred
- unhallowMake no longer sacred
- defileTo violate sanctity
- deconsecrateRemove sacred designation
secularize · decommission · strip · divest · invalidate · annul · revoke · nullify
Expel from church membership
- defrockRemove clerical status
- disaffiliateEnd formal membership
- expelRemove forcibly from membership
- banishOfficially send away
ostracize · cast out · exclude · reject · renounce · disown · repudiate · disavow
Remove clerical status
- secularizeRemove from religious control
- defrockingExpelling clergy from ministry
- apostasyRenunciation of former beliefs
- deconversionAbandoning religious belief
disenchantment · demystification · rationalization · disillusionment · worldliness · profanation · laity · temporal
Nullify a christening
- unnamedNot identified or specified
- relabelAssign a new designation
- rechristeningGiving a new name
- renamingGiving new designation
redesignate · retitle · anonymize · nomenclature · alias · pseudonym
desecrate
Violate what's sacred
deconsecrate · secularize · decommission · strip · divest · invalidate · annul · revoke · nullify · abrogate
excommunicate
Expel from church membership
- defrockRemove clerical status
- disaffiliateEnd formal membership
- expelRemove forcibly from membership
banish · ostracize · cast out · exclude · reject · renounce · disown · repudiate · disavow · forsake
laicize
Remove clerical status
- secularizeRemove from religious control
- defrockingExpelling clergy from ministry
- apostasyRenunciation of former beliefs
deconversion · disenchantment · demystification · rationalization · disillusionment · worldliness · profanation · laity · temporal · mundane
unbaptize
Nullify a christening
- unnamedNot identified or specified
- relabelAssign a new designation
- rechristeningGiving a new name
renaming · redesignate · retitle · anonymize · nomenclature · alias · pseudonym