'canonize' originates from Late Latin, specifically the word 'canonizare,' where the root 'canon-' came from Greek 'kanon' meaning 'rule' or 'measuring rod' and the suffix '-izare' formed verbs.

'canonize' developed from Greek 'kanonizein' (to make canonical) to Late Latin 'canonizare', then through Old French 'canoniser' and Middle English 'canonisen' before becoming the modern English 'canonize'.

Initially it meant 'to place in a canonical list' or 'to make canonical'; over time it specialized to the church act of declaring a saint and, by extension, to the secular sense of 'treat as authoritative' or 'glorify'.