I have some rather sad news, dear readers: This is my last printed word in The Daily.

After nearly three years here, and roughly two years at my last student newspaper, The Jibsheet at Bellevue Community College (now Bellevue College), I must turn in my etymological badge, at least as an undergraduate “usageaster” (a self-styled word expert), following my graduation. I do hope to continue on in some fashion and will update you on where I wind up on The Daily’s blog, where there will be several more “word-waste” posts ere the end of the summer edition of The Daily.

But now that such mildly melancholy matters have been addressed, let’s move on to a word, shall we?

Thanks to my friend and mentor Richard Johnson, a UW professor of history, we have a fine finale, as it were, in “apotheosis” (pronounced, “ah-pa-thee-o-sis”).

This is a rather heavy-duty theological term for the deification of men, or of “the action of ranking, or fact of being ranked, among the gods,” as the ever-faithful Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines it.

By turns, it can also refer to the exaltation of a principle or procedure, a “deified ideal,” as the OED puts it, the glorified giving of a hint of divinity, or at least profound acclaim, or, finally, more broadly, the process of ascending to glory in a “departure or release from earthly life,” i.e., a resurrection. It is also a theme in art, as with “The Apotheosis of Washington,” the fresco that graces the ceiling of the U.S. Capitol Building, by Constantino Brumidi.

Figures such as Alexander the Great, the Roman emperors beginning with Caesar and the somewhat more mythical Hercules (aka Herakles) were, at least by their peers, apotheosized. Lest you think this an ancient practice only, presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, due to their tragic assassinations, were subject to a sort of political and cultural apotheosis.

The word comes from the Late Latin, from the Greek word “apotheōsis,” from “apotheoun,” meaning, “to deify” or, literally, “to make a god of,” as “theos” means “god” (with the prefix “apo-” meaning “off,” “away from,” or just “from,” as with “apostle,” which means, “one sent forth”).

Speaking of apostles, early Christians refused to participate in the Roman state apotheosis of the emperor and the royal family and subsequently suffered persecution and martyrdom (incidentally, “martyr” is both Latin and Greek for “witness”).

The word first came into recorded use in English in roughly the mid-1500s, with a good early example brought to us by no less a towering figure of the arts and sciences than Sir Francis Bacon, with this line from his Advancement of Learning, published in 1605: “That which the Grecians call ‘apotheosis’ … was the supreme honor, which a man could attribute unto man.” Bacon (1561-1626) was lord chancellor to James I (1566-1625) and, among many contributions to knowledge, helped to develop the modern scientific method in his 1620 treatise on logic, the Novum Organum.

While none of us will probably undergo an apotheosis (or become apotheosized, in an “apotheosy”), perhaps knowing what the word means will help us understand a fresco or two.

As a final thought, I must say that it has been an exceptional lexical honor and a perfect privilege to have served as your resident etymologist for these past three years. Thank you for all your ideas and support. Writing this column, I must say, has been one of the highlights thus far of my learning life.

You are, of course, always welcome to e-mail me with word ideas, questions or comments at my UW e-mail, wtm2@u.washington.edu. Please do take care, and until we meet again, cheers!

Reach Opinion Editor Will Mari at features@dailyuw.com.