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sacratus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word sacratus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *sh₂k-ro-
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sacer
Latin sacratus
From the same root
Latin sacrarius ← sacer

Forms

sacrātus (feminine sacrāta, neuter sacrātum, comparative sacrātior, superlative sacrātissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is the participle of sacrō (“to consecrate”), used as an adjective.[1][2][3] The verb is from Latin sacer (“sacred”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *sakro- (“sacred”) and Proto-Indo-European *sh₂k-ro- (“sacred”).[4][5] Cognate with Umbrian sacru (“sacred”) and Faliscan sacra (“sacred”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[3] who in the Pro Tullio mentions the leges sacratae, which allowed anyone who struck a tribune of the people to be killed with impunity.[1]

Semantic evolution

It means hallowed or sacred, of things connected with worship, as Virgil's sacred citadel, and in Apuleius the masculine is an initiate of the mysteries.[1] Ovid applies it to the emperor and what belongs to him, august, and Seneca the Elder to other revered persons.[1] A lex sacrata made the offender sacer, forfeit to the gods; of other things it means made binding by an oath, as Virgil's sacred rights of the Greeks.[1]

In Church Latin it is sacred, holy, consecrated.[6] In medieval Latin, especially in the superlative, it means imperial or royal.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the leges sacratae.[1][3]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a sacred citadel and a sacred oath.[1][3]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of the emperor.[1][3]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of an initiate.[1][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Hallowed, holy, sacred; as a noun, an initiate.[1][6]
  2. Of the emperors, august, revered; of other persons, revered.[1]
  3. lex sacrata, a law whose breaker became sacer; made binding by oath, inviolable.[1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Imperial; royal.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Sacratus.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/sacratus. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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