sant

Forms

sant (feminine santa, masculine plural sants, feminine plural santes)^[1] Before a saint's name the word is proclitic;^[1][2] Central, Northern and North-Western Catalan say [san], while Balearic and Valencian keep the final /t/.^[1][2] Old Catalan often wrote sen, sent and senta before names (Sen Romà, sent Michel, Senta Maria), and sancta as a learned spelling; the forms with /e/ receded early in the feminine.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sānctus (“sacred, holy”), properly the past participle of sanciō (“to consecrate, make inviolable”).^{[3][2][4][5][1]}

The same Latin word is Occitan sant, Spanish santo, Portuguese santo, French saint, Italian santo and Romanian sânt.^[6][1]

The old ⟨sen⟩, ⟨sent⟩ and ⟨senta⟩ are explained by the DCVB through the proclitic position;^[3] Coromines does not call this unfounded, but takes them as the Catalan outcome of a form like Old French saint, with the /k/ of the Latin group turned into /i/.^[3] The Vides de sants still have ⟨sains⟩ and ⟨seint⟩, and place names such as Montsent in Pallars keep the /e/.^[3] The form with /a/ was at first the more learned one: the Homilies d'Organyà write ⟨Sancta Escriptura⟩ but ⟨ciutad senta⟩.^[3]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *sanktos, the participle of *sankjō (“to consecrate”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines finds the word from the beginnings of the language; before saints' names it is frequent in the archaic documents of Urgell, from Sen Romà in 1131.^[3] The Homilies d'Organyà speak of the devil taking Christ to the holy city of Jerusalem (la ciutad senta de Jherusalem) and of the masters of Holy Church (Sent' Eglésia).^[3]

Semantic evolution

The medieval senses already cover the modern ones: holy, of God and of what is consecrated to him; living according to God's law, as in Llull's Fèlix; a saint, a person who lives or has died in holiness; and good, just, as in the Novells ardits of 1456.^[7][8] Eiximenis even uses it for simple, artless (la sancta rusticitat).^[7]

From the image of a saint came the colloquial sense of any picture or illustration in a book.^[9][10] The noun also means a person's name day, and in the army the password, as in sant i senya.^[10][11] Words of the family are old: santament and santificar in Llull, santedat in Eiximenis;^[4] santejar is first recorded by Labèrnia in 1839.^[4]

Timeline

• 1131 – Sen Romà in a document from Urgell.^[3]
• 12th century – ciutad senta and Sancta Escriptura in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[3][4]
• 1239 – sants as a noun in a Mallorcan document of the Còdex Lagostera.^[7]
• 1242 – sen March in the Conca de Tremp.^[3]
• 1272 – Llull's Fèlix: .j. sant pelegri.^[7]
• 1381 – Eiximenis's Regiment de prínceps: la sancta rusticitat.^[7]
• 1456 – the Novells ardits: la sancta intencio.^[7]
• 1839 – santejar first recorded, in Labèrnia's dictionary.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. holy, sacred; said of God and of what belongs or is consecrated to him.^[5][2]
2. Said of what relates to Christ, the Church and its sacraments, and of the days of Holy Week: Dijous Sant.^[5]
3. Of a person: saintly, living a virtuous life.^[2][7]
4. Very good, beneficial, just.^[2][7]
5. (colloquial, intensifying) Whole, entire: Va ploure tot el sant dia.^[2]
6. Used as a title before the name of a male saint: Sant Jordi.^[2][1]

Noun

1. A saint, a person the Church has declared to be in heaven.^[2][1]
2. An image of a saint, carved or painted.^[2][10]
3. (colloquial) A picture or illustration in a book or magazine.^[9][10]
4. A person's name day (onomàstica): Quan fas el sant?^[10]
5. (military) The password of sentries, in sant i senya.^[10][2]

Word family

• santament
• santedat
• santejar
• santaire
• santer
• santjoanada
• santcrist
• santbernat

Related words

• santificar
• santuari
• Latin sānctus
• Occitan sant
• Spanish santo

Usage notes

The DCVB warns that Aguiló's sent 'uncle' (el sent Tòfol) is a misreading of sen, the title given to old countrymen.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. sant
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 7, 663
4. ^ a b c d e Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 825
5. ^ a b c Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. sant
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7569
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. sant
8. ^ Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. sant
9. ^ a b Rodamots: cada dia, un mot (online), https://rodamots.cat, p. s.v. sant
10. ^ a b c d e f Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Diccionari essencial de la llengua catalana (DEIEC), online, https://deiec.iec.cat, p. s.v. sant
11. ^ Vallès, Emili (1927), Pal·las: diccionari català il·lustrat, Barcelona: Salvat, p. s.v. sant