I've never knowingly seen this verb used ... I'm curious about whether many here use it in their own writing and speech.

I have apostatized this word myself, Wordwind, for no good reason it would seem. It has a religious connation, does it not, at least in its original usage, and perhaps that explains why we don't make a lot of use of it in our writing.

It's not a word anyone would want to use in ordinary speech, is it? I think it would bring a speaker's delivery to a crashing halt in mid-sentence like a power black-out.
[All the lights would go out as people try to figure out what the speaker has just said.]

It reminds me of another similiar word, Wordwind: "evangelize".

"Evangelize" started out with the same religious trappings as "apostatize", but it ended up in the hands of Bill Gates who turned it into a powerful marketing tool.

Microsoft's zeal [some would call it a monopolistic obsession] in maintaining its dominance in the computer software industry is legendary. Obviously, it's a real challenge for Microsoft to keep its sales people running white hot with fervor when the company is so far ahead of everyone else.

So Bill Gates, genius that he is, borrowed from the lexicon of religion.

Now, selling Microsoft is like selling the Christian message. You don't do it for yourself, you do it for your fellow man.

The best Microsoft crusaders do not "sell" the company. They "evangelize" it.

That's the way they get to Microsoft heaven. :)