'apostate' originates from Late Latin, specifically the word 'apostata', where the prefix 'apo-' meant 'away' and the root (from Greek) implied 'standing/standing away'.

'apostate' changed from the Greek word 'apostatēs' (via Late Latin 'apostata' and Old French 'apostat') and eventually became the modern English word 'apostate'.

Initially, it meant 'one who stands away' or 'a defector/one who has withdrawn'; over time it came to mean specifically 'a person who renounces a religious or political belief'.