sanctus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈsaːŋk.tʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsaŋk.tus]^[1]

Forms

sānctus (feminine sāncta, neuter sānctum, comparative sānctior, superlative sānctissimus); first/second-declension participle^[1]

Etymology

It is the perfect participle of sanciō “to make sacred, ratify”, from Proto-Italic *sanktos, participle of *sankjō “to consecrate”.^[2][1] An inscription has the participle ⟨sancītō⟩.^[2] Köbler compares a PIE root *sak- “to sanctify”, and Döderlein connected it with Ancient Greek ἁγνός (hagnós, “pure”).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Livius Andronicus, of a holy god, and Ennius uses it of sacrosanct laws and holy things.^[2] Köbler dates Livius Andronicus 280/260–before 200 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant secured by religious sanction, inviolable, of laws, persons in office such as tribunes, places and oaths, and Ulpian gives a legal definition of it.^[2][5] It meant holy, sacred, of things under divine protection, and of gods holy, blessed, as in Livius Andronicus, of poets and prophets, the dead, parents, and the senate.^[2] From Cicero it meant morally upright, blameless, virtuous, and in Quintilian of style pure, chaste.^[2] Döderlein explains that sacer is what belongs to the gods, sānctus what is under their protection.^[4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant holy, saintly, godly, and as a noun a canonized saint, Sānctus is also the hymn of the Mass.^[6] It passed through Old French saint into English saint in the early 12th century, and Sanctus itself, the angelic hymn, is recorded in English in the late 14th century.^[7] It survives in Italian santo and Romanian sfânt.^[1]

Timeline

• 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it of a god.^[2][3]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of sacrosanct laws.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the morally upright.^[2][3]
• early 12th century – English saint is recorded, through Old French.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Sacrosanct, inviolable.^[2]
2. Holy, sacred.^[2]
3. Of gods, holy, blessed; of poets, the dead, parents, venerable.^[2]
4. Upright, blameless, virtuous; of style, pure.^[2]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Saintly; as a noun, a saint.^[6]

Word family

• sānctificātiō
• sānctificō
• sānctimōnia

Related words

• sanciō
• sacer
• English saint
• English sanctity

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 k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com