apostasy
noun
[ əˈpɒstəsi ]
• the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief or principle.
• "the execution of their leader for apostasy brought widespread criticism"
Similar:
renunciation of belief,
abandonment of belief,
recantation,
treachery,
perfidy,
faithlessness,
disloyalty,
betrayal,
defection,
desertion,
heresy,
tergiversation,
recreancy,
Origin:
Middle English: from ecclesiastical Latin apostasia, from a late Greek alteration of Greek apostasis ‘defection’.
