sanctum sanctorum

English

Etymology

From Latin sanctum sanctōrum, translating Hebrew קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים (Qṓḏeš HaqQŏḏāšîm).

Noun

sanctum sanctorum

1. The Holy of Holies in the Jewish temple.
2. A person's most private retreat or sanctuary.
   • 1864, Charlotte Bronte, The Professor:

     Mdlle Reuter turned her eye laterally on me, to ascertain, probably, whether I was collected enough to be ushered into her sanctum sanctorum.

Translations

Holy of Holies

• Aghwan: 𐕌𐕒𐕡𐕟𐕒𐕡𐕙𐕒𐕡𐕎 𐕌𐕒𐕡𐕟𐕒𐕡𐕙𐕒𐕡𐕎𐕒𐕡𐕘𐕒𐔺 (muc̣'urun muc̣'urunuġoy)
• Dutch: Heilige der Heiligen
• Finnish: kaikkein pyhin
• French: saint des saints (fr) m
• German: Allerheiligste (de) n
• Japanese: 至聖所 (shiseijo)
• Latin: sānctum sānctōrum sg or n
• Polish: sanctum sanctorum n
• Russian: свята́я святы́х (ru) f (svjatája svjatýx)
• Spanish: sanctasanctórum m

person's sanctuary

• Russian: убе́жище (ru) n (ubéžišče)
• Spanish: sanctasanctórum m

Latin

Etymology

Semantic loan from Biblical Hebrew קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים (Qṓḏeš HaqQŏḏāšîm)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsaːnk.tum saːnkˈtoː.rum/, [ˈs̠äːŋkt̪ʊ̃ˑ s̠äːŋkˈt̪oːrʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsank.tum sankˈto.rum/, [ˈsäŋkt̪um säŋkˈt̪ɔːrum]

Noun

sānctum sānctōrum n sg (genitive sānctī sānctōrum); second declension

1. Holy of Holies; holiest place

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter) with an indeclinable portion, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	sānctum sānctōrum
Genitive	sānctī sānctōrum
Dative	sānctō sānctōrum
Accusative	sānctum sānctōrum
Ablative	sānctō sānctōrum
Vocative	sānctum sānctōrum

Synonyms

• adytum

Related terms

• sanciō
• sānctus