sanctuary English · revision 15108

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1325|origins=la sānctus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈsæŋk.tʃʊə.ri/, US /ˈsæŋk.tʃu.er.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|seintuarie]], [[bor|xno|sentuarie]] and [[fro|saintuaire|t=sacred relic, holy thing, sanctuary]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-lat|sānctuārium|t=a sacred place, shrine]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from [[la|sānctus|t=holy]] (see [[saint]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A consecrated place: before 1325, as santuare, in Cursor Mundi;^(Barnhart 1988) a building set apart for worship before 1340 in the OED;^(OED 1989) Etymonline adds a holy object, early 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline) The holy place of the Jewish temple and Heaven are sanctuaries from 1382,^(OED 1989) and the part of a church around the altar from the early 15th century.^(OED 1989) Since Constantine's time, church law gave fugitives immunity from arrest in certain churches,^(Etymonline) and a place of refuge is first recorded about 1380, in Chaucer's Boethius.^(Barnhart 1988) In Norfolk dialect the sanctuary was the consecrated ground of a churchyard.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1325 – a consecrated place.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – a place of refuge.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1382 – the holy place of the temple.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 15th century – the area around the altar.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A holy place, such as a church, temple or mosque.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The holiest part of a sacred place, such as the area around the [[altar]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Old Testament)'' The temple at Jerusalem, especially the holy of holies.^(Collins 2023)

+ # A sacred place where fugitives were formerly immune from arrest, or that immunity itself.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A place of refuge or safety.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sanctuaried]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[saint]]

+ * [[sanctify]]

+ * [[sanctum]]

+ * [[sanction]]

+ * [[sacred]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}