Etymologically
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sanctitas

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Forms

sānctitās f (genitive sānctitātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sānctus (“sacred, holy”) + -tās.[2][3][1][4] The adjective is the participle of sanciō (“to make sacred, ratify”), which Wiktionary traces to Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- through a nasal present.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[5] who in the Pro Sestio speaks of a man relying on the sacrosanctity of the tribunate.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is the state of being protected by religious sanction, inviolability, as of the tribunate, of kings in Caesar's words reported by Suetonius, or of a temple and island in Livy.[2][3] It also means the observance of religious duties, as Cicero's “all the sanctities and religious obligations of gods and men”.[2] Most often it is moral purity, virtue or integrity, as the purity Cicero says the name of a matron demands, and Quintilian applies it to purity of style.[2]

In medieval Latin sanctitas tua was a title of honour for bishops.[6] English borrowed sanctity through Old French in the late 14th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the sacrosanctity of the tribunate and of a matron's purity.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the sanctity of a temple.[3][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of purity of style.[2][5]
  • late 14th century – Borrowed into English as sanctity.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Inviolability, sacredness, sanctity.[2][3][1]
  2. Observance of religious duties.[2]
  3. Moral purity, virtue, probity; holiness, chastity; of style, purity.[2][3][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) sanctitas tua: a title of honour for a bishop.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill