Sentence:  Thereafter, the caterpillar achieved a sort of posthumous <WSD>apotheosis</WSD>. From local authority to the Dorchester magistrates, from the Dorchester magistrates to a Divisional Court presided over by the Lord Chief Justice of England, from the Lord Chief Justice to the House of Lords, the immolated insect has at length plodded its methodical way to the highest tribunal in the land. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Glorification, exaltation; crediting someone or something with extraordinary power or status.