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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Apostasy \A*pos"ta*sy\, noun; pl. {Apostasies}. [OE. apostasie, F. apostasie, L. apostasia, fr. Gr. ? a standing off from, a defection, fr. ? to stand off, revolt; ? from + ? to stand. See {Off} and {Stand}.] An abandonment of what one has voluntarily professed; a total desertion of departure from one's faith, principles, or party; esp., the renunciation of a religious faith; as, Julian's apostasy from Christianity.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
apostasy
noun
1: the state of having rejected your religious beliefs or your political party or a cause (often in favor of opposing beliefs or causes) [syn: {renunciation}, {defection}]
2: the act of abandoning a party or cause [syn: {tergiversation}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
128 Moby Thesaurus words for "apostasy": Evangelicalism, Protestantism, Reform, Zwinglianism, about-face, accommodation, adaptation, adjustment, agreement to disagree, alienation, alteration, amelioration, atheism, backsliding, betrayal, betterment, bolt, break, breakaway, change, change of heart, changeableness, constructive change, continuity, conversion, counter-culture, crossing-over, defection, degeneration, degenerative change, dereliction, deserter, desertion, deterioration, deviation, difference, disaccord, disagreement, disapprobation, disapproval, discontinuity, disloyalty, disparity, dissatisfaction, dissension, dissent, dissentience, dissidence, divergence, diversification, diversion, diversity, dropping out, faithlessness, fall from grace, falseness, fitting, flip-flop, going over, gradual change, impiety, impiousness, improvement, irreligion, irreverence, lapse, lapse from grace, melioration, minority opinion, mitigation, modification, modulation, new theology, nonagreement, nonassent, nonconcurrence, nonconformity, nonconsent, opposition, overthrow, perfidy, qualification, radical change, ratting, re-creation, realignment, recidivation, recidivism, recreancy, recusance, recusancy, redesign, reform, reformation, rejection, remaking, renewal, renunciation, repudiation, reshaping, restructuring, reversal, revival, revivification, revolution, schism, secession, shift, sudden change, switch, tergiversation, total change, transition, treacherousness, treason, turn, turnabout, turning traitor, underground, undutifulness, upheaval, variance, variation, variety, violent change, walkout, withdrawal, worsening
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