shrine English · revision 39912

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English, Ælfric|origins=la scrīnium}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʃɹaɪ̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|schrine]], [[inh|ang|scrīn|t=ark of the covenant; chest, coffer; case for relics]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024)^(Hoad 1986)^(Dictionary.com 2016) an early borrowing [[der|la|scrīnium|t=a case or box for keeping books or papers]], of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024)^(Skeat 1911) The Latin word was taken into the other Germanic languages too: [[ofs|skrīn]], [[gml|schrīn]], [[m|nl|schrijn]], [[goh|scrīni]] (modern [[m|de|Schrein]]) and [[non|skrín]].^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) Weekley calls it an early Church word, though some of these languages used it for any casket.^(Weekley 1921) The Romance languages have it as [[m|fro|escrin]], French [[m|fr|écrin|t=a jewel case]] and [[m|it|scrigno]].^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921)^(Partridge 1966) Klein, Partridge and Merriam-Webster suggest that the Latin word may be related to [[m|la|curvus|t=curved]], from a root meaning "to bend".^(Klein 1966)^(Partridge 1966)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Old English, a box, coffer or chest, used by Ælfric of the Ark of the Covenant, and a case for the relics of a saint.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart dates the Old English word to about 1000, and ''schryne'', a case holding a holy object, to about 1280.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The plain sense "box, chest" died out in the 17th century.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) From the reliquary the word spread to the tomb of a saint and a decorated case for a dead body, recorded in Chaucer (c1385),^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) and, in Tyndale's translation of Acts (1526), to any receptacle of a sacred object, as the silver shrines made for Diana.^(OED 2026) In the 17th century it came to mean a place of worship, a temple or church: Milton used it so in 1645.^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) Chaucer had already used it for anything that encloses or holds something, and figurative uses for a person or thing that is venerated or idolized are recorded from before 1577.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) defined it as "a case in which something sacred is reposited".^(Johnson 1755) The verb, to put relics in a shrine, is recorded from c1290 in the ''South English Legendary'';^(OED 2026) Chaucer used it for "to canonize" (a1400), and since 1578 it has meant to [[enshrine]] in one's heart.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – a box or chest; a case for relics.^(OED 2026)

+ * c1290 – verb, to enclose relics in a shrine.^(OED 2026)

+ * c1385 – a tomb or coffin.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1400 – something that encloses or holds.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1526 – a receptacle of an object of worship.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1645 – a place of worship, a temple.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1658 – last record of the sense "box, chest".^(OED 2026)

+ * 1833 – the part of a church in which a shrine stands.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A place regarded as [[holy]] because of its association with a sacred person or object, visited by [[pilgrim|alt=pilgrims]]: ''a shrine to the Virgin Mary''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A container for sacred [[relic|alt=relics]]; a [[reliquary]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The [[tomb]] of a saint or other holy person.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A place honoured for its association with a famous person or event: ''The stadium has become a shrine for football fans.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (Roman Catholic Church) A [[niche]], shelf or small structure holding a statue or picture of Christ, the Virgin Mary or a saint.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # (archaic) To [[enshrine]]; to place in or as if in a shrine.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[shrineless]]

+ * [[shrinelike]]

+ * [[unshrined]]

+ * [[enshrine]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scrinium]]

+ * [[reliquary]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Northamptonshire dialect, beans in the harvest field were said to be well ''shrined'' when they were dry enough to carry.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}