staurolatry
Etymology
From stauro- + -latry.
staurolatry means The idolatrous worship of the cross or crucifix Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
Why this word is great
STAUROLATRY — [Noun] The idolatrous worship of the cross or crucifix. From the Late Greek stauro- ("cross") and -latria ("worship"), via Late Latin staurolatrīa, it names the precise point where veneration curdles into idolatry. Unlike crucicentrism, which emphasizes a theological focus on the atonement, or iconodulism, which denotes the general veneration of images, staurolatry damns the specific, superstitious confusion of symbol for divine substance. It is the lingering kiss on a cold gold reliquary; the frantic polish of a worn wooden corpus; the terror that seizes a heart when a pendant slips from its chain—the human compulsion to seek a fixed, tangible locus for a grace that is, by its nature, untouchable and everywhere. A devotion that has mistaken the scaffold for the victim.
noun
- The idolatrous worship of the cross or crucifix