Etymologically
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holiness

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈhəʊlinəs/[1]
  • US: /ˈhoʊlinəs/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English holinesse, earlier halinesse,[2][3] inherited from Old English hālignes,[4][5][6][2] formed from Old English hālig + -nes, that is holy and -ness.[4][2][5] The Middle English vowel follows that of holi (“holy”).[2] The base hālig is from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz.[3] The word corresponds to Old High German heilagnissa.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Holiness, sanctity: before 830, in the Vespasian Psalter,[2] and in the Blickling Homilies, where it renders the idea of righteousness and holiness.[4][6] In Old English it was used of places, days and ideas, for sanctity, sinlessness and purity.[3]

Semantic evolution

Old English also used hālignes concretely for a holy thing or relic, and for a holy place or sanctuary,[6][4] senses that the OED records until about 1300;[4] in Layamon's Brut it meant holy rites or worship.[4][6] As a title of respect it was used of a saint from the mid-14th century,[3] and of the pope by the mid-15th century,[3] in a royal letter of 1502 according to the OED;[4] it translated Latin sānctitās, which until about 600 was also used of bishops.[3] Johnson (1755) gave both "sanctity, piety" and the title of the pope.[7] Chaucer used the word 13 times and Gower 8 times.[8] From 1888 Holiness, usually with a capital, named religious groups in the United States that stress sanctification and spiritual perfection, as in the Holiness movement.[4][5]

Timeline

  • before 830 – hālignis, holiness (Vespasian Psalter).[2]
  • Old English – the quality of being holy; also a holy place or thing (until 1300).[4]
  • before 1200 – Middle English holinesse and halinesse.[2]
  • c. 1275 – holy rites, worship (Layamon's Brut).[4]
  • mid-14th century – a title of respect for a saint.[3]
  • 1502 – a title of the pope.[4]
  • 1888 – the Holiness churches and movement.[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The quality or state of being holy; sanctity or saintliness.[9][5][4][10]
  2. His Holiness, Your Holiness: a title of the pope, and of some other high religious leaders; formerly of all bishops.[9][5][4]
  3. (often capitalised) Of or belonging to a group of religious movements that stress sanctification and spiritual perfection.[5][4]
  4. (obsolete) A holy place or a holy thing.[4][10][6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press