'canonization' originates from Medieval Latin, specifically the word 'canonizare', where the element 'kanon' (from Greek) meant 'rule' or 'standard' and the suffix '-ize' meant 'to make' or 'to render'.

'canonizare' evolved through Old French 'canoniser' and Middle English 'canonize', eventually becoming the modern English noun 'canonization' (the action or result of canonizing).

Initially it meant 'to place or list according to a rule or standard' and, in ecclesiastical use, 'to declare someone a saint'; over time it has kept its primary sense of 'making official/authoritative' and the specific religious sense.