sanctuary

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈsæŋk.tʃʊə.ri/, US /ˈsæŋk.tʃu.er.i/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English seintuarie, borrowed from Anglo-Norman sentuarie and Old French saintuaire (“sacred relic, holy thing, sanctuary”),^[2][3][4] from Late Latin sānctuārium (“a sacred place, shrine”),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin sānctus (“holy”) (see saint).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A consecrated place: before 1325, as santuare, in Cursor Mundi;^[2] a building set apart for worship before 1340 in the OED;^[6] Etymonline adds a holy object, early 14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Late Latin used the word especially for the Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem, and Medieval Latin also for a church, a cemetery and the right of asylum.^[3] The holy place of the Jewish temple and Heaven are sanctuaries from 1382,^[6] and the part of a church around the altar from the early 15th century.^[6] Since Constantine's time, church law gave fugitives immunity from arrest in certain churches,^[3] and a place of refuge is first recorded about 1380, in Chaucer's Boethius.^[2] In Norfolk dialect the sanctuary was the consecrated ground of a churchyard.^[7]

Timeline

• before 1325 – a consecrated place.^[2]
• c. 1380 – a place of refuge.^[2]
• 1382 – the holy place of the temple.^[6]
• early 15th century – the area around the altar.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A holy place, such as a church, temple or mosque.
2. The holiest part of a sacred place, such as the area around the altar.
3. (Old Testament) The temple at Jerusalem, especially the holy of holies.
4. A sacred place where fugitives were formerly immune from arrest, or that immunity itself.
5. A place of refuge or safety.

Word family

• sanctuaried

Related words

• saint
• sanctify
• sanctum
• sanction
• sacred

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)