sacrosanto

Forms

sacrosanto (feminine sacrosanta, masculine plural sacrosantos, feminine plural sacrosantas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sacrōsānctus (“protected by a religious sanction, inviolable”), a learned word.^[2][1][3] The Latin adjective is probably the ablative of sacer (“sacred”) (Wiktionary: of the noun sacrum (“sacred object or act”)) together with sānctus (“consecrated”).^[4][1] It was used of officials such as the tribunes of the plebs, whose persons were protected from violation by a religious sanction.^[4] The same Latin word gave Portuguese sacrossanto, Catalan sacrosant, Italian sacrosanto and French sacro-saint.^[5][6][3] In Spanish it stands beside sacro and santo.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Segura Munguía dates the first record to 1438.^[3] Corominas found it only in Francisco de Aldana (died 1578) and in Lope de Vega, the author Autoridades quotes.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th and 17th centuries it was used mainly of holy things: the blood from Christ's wounds in a text from New Granada of 1588, the body of Christ in the sacrament (Tucumán, 1664), the order of priesthood (Mexico, 1673).^[9] Autoridades (1739) defined it simply as sacred and holy, quoting Lope's Piedra Sacrosanta.^[8] The DLE still gives the single sense of what is both sacred and holy;^[8] Moliner notes that it is applied with great veneration to sacred things.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1438 – the first record, according to Segura Munguía.^[3]
• before 1578 – Francisco de Aldana uses it;^[8] Corominas's first record.^[7]
• 1588 – the first record from the Americas, in New Granada.^[9]
• 1739 – Autoridades enters it, quoting Lope de Vega.^[8]
• 1843 – the Academy defines it as having the qualities of both sacred and holy.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sacrosanct: both sacred (sagrado) and holy, regarded with deep veneration: las reliquias sacrosantas del templo.^[2][10][1]

Related words

• sacro
• sagrado
• santo
• Latin sacer
• Latin sānctus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. sacrosanto
3. ^ a b c d Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 700
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. sacrossanto
6. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. sacrosant
7. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 123
8. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 15
9. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. sacrosanto
10. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. sacrosanto
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 649