holy

See also: Holy, holý, Holý, and hồ ly

English

Etymology

From Middle English holi, hali, from Old English hāliġ, hāleġ (“holy, consecrated, sacred, venerated, godly, saintly, ecclesiastical, pacific, tame”), from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz (“holy, bringing health”), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“healthy, whole”), from Proto-Indo-European *kóh₂ilus (“healthy, whole”), equivalent to whole +‎ -y. Cognate with Scots haly (“holy”), West Frisian hillich (“holy”), Low German hillig (“holy”), Dutch heilig (“holy”), German heilig (“holy”), Danish hellig (“holy”), Swedish helig (“holy”). More at whole.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhəʊli/
• (US) enPR: hōʹlē, IPA^(key): /ˈhoʊli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊli
• Homophones: holey, wholly

Adjective

holy (comparative holier, superlative holiest)

1. Dedicated to a religious purpose or a god.

   I'm planning to visit the holy city of Jerusalem this Christmas.

2. Revered in a religion.
3. Perfect or flawless.
4. Separated or set apart from (something unto something or someone else).
5. Set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose, or for use by a single entity or person.
6. (slang) Used as an intensifier in various interjections.

   Holy cow, I can’t believe he actually lost the race!

   Those children next door are holy terrors!

Synonyms

• (dedicated to a religious purpose or a god): sacred
• (revered in a religion): sacred
• (perfect, flawless): faultless, flawless, perfect
• (separated or set apart from something): sanctified
• (set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose): reserved, special

Antonyms

• (revered in a religion): profane, secular, unholy, worldly
• (perfect, flawless): damaged, defective, faulty, flawed, imperfect
• (set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose): common

Derived terms

terms derived from holy

• holiest of holies
• holiness
• holy cats
• holy cow
• holy crap
• Holy Ghost
• Holy Grail
• Holy of Holies
• holy mackerel
• holy moly, holy moley
• holy Moses

• holy mother of God
• Holy See
• holy shit
• holy smoke
• holy snakes
• Holy Spirit
• holy Toledo
• Holy Trinity
• holy war
• holy water
• Holy Week

Related terms

• hallowed

Translations

dedicated to a religious purpose

• Albanian: shenjtë (sq)
• Arabic: مُقَدَّس‎ m (muqaddas)

  Egyptian Arabic: مقدس‎ (muʾaddas)

• Armenian: սուրբ (hy) (surb)
• Aromanian: sãntu, sãmtu
• Azerbaijani: müqəddəs
• Belarusian: святы́ (svjatý), свяшчэ́нны (svjaščénny)
• Bulgarian: свят (bg) (svjat), свеще́н (bg) (sveštén)
• Catalan: sagrat (ca), sagrada (ca) f, sant (ca) m, santa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 神聖 (zh), 神圣 (zh) (shénshèng), 聖 (zh), 圣 (zh) (shèng)

• Czech: svatý (cs)
• Dalmatian: suant
• Danish: hellig
• Dutch: heilig (nl), sacraal (nl), gewijd (nl)
• Egyptian: (ḏsr)
• Esperanto: sankta
• Estonian: puhä
• Faroese: heilagur, halgur
• Finnish: pyhä (fi)
• French: saint (fr), sacré (fr)
• Friulian: sant
• Galician: sagrado m, sacro (gl) m
• Georgian: წმინდა (c̣minda)
• German: heilig (de)
• Greek: άγιος (el) (ágios)

  Ancient: ἅγιος (hágios), ἱερός (hierós), ὅσιος (hósios)

• Greenlandic: illernartoq
• Hebrew: קדוש‎ (he) m (ka'dosh), קדושה‎ f (kdo'sha)
• Hidatsa: xubáa
• Hindi: पवित्र (hi) f (pavitra)
• Hungarian: szent (hu)
• Hunsrik: heilich
• Icelandic: heilagur (is), helgur
• Indonesian: kudus (id), keramat (id)
• Irish: beannaithe, naofa
• Istriot: santo
• Italian: sacro (it)
• Japanese: 神聖 (ja) (しんせい, shinsei), 聖なる (ja) (せいなる, sei naru)
• Korean: 거룩한 (ko) (georukhan), 신성한 (ko) (sinseonghan)
• Latin: sacer (la)
• Latvian: svēts (lv)
• Lithuanian: šventas

• Luxembourgish: helleg (lb)
• Macedonian: свет m (svet)
• Malay: suci (ms)
• Maori: tapu (mi)
• Mari: шнуй (šnuj)
• Navajo: diyin
• Norman: saint
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hellig (no)

• Occitan: sant (oc)

  Old Occitan: sant

• Old English: hāliġ
• Persian: مقدس‎ (fa) (moqaddas), اسپنتا‎ (espantâ), سپنتا‎ (fa) (sepantâ)
• Polish: święty (pl) m
• Portuguese: santo (pt), sagrado (pt), sacro (pt)
• Rapa Nui: tapu
• Romanian: sfânt (ro) m or n, sfântă (ro) f
• Romansch: sontg, sogn, son, sench, sonch
• Russian: свято́й (ru) (svjatój), свяще́нный (ru) (svjaščénnyj)
• Sardinian: santu
• Scots: haly
• Scottish Gaelic: naomh, coisrigte
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: свет

  Roman: svet (sh)

• Sicilian: santu (scn)
• Slovak: svätý
• Slovene: svet (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: swěty

• Spanish: santo (es), sagrado (es)
• Swedish: helig (sv)
• Thai: ศักดิ์สิทธิ์ (th) (sàk sìt)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: kutsal (tr), mukaddes (tr)
• Ukrainian: святи́й (svjatýj), свяще́нний (svjaščénnyj)
• Venetian: santo
• Vietnamese: thánh (vi) (聖), thần thánh (vi)
• Welsh: sanctaidd (cy)
• Yiddish: הייליק‎ (heylik)
• Yup'ik: tanqilria

revered in a religion

• Armenian: սուրբ (hy) (surb)
• Belarusian: святы́ (svjatý), свяшчэ́нны (svjaščénny)
• Bulgarian: свят (bg) (svjat)
• Catalan: sant (ca)
• Czech: svatý (cs) m, posvátný (cs) m
• Dutch: heilig (nl), sacraal (nl)
• Faroese: heilagur
• Finnish: pyhä (fi)
• Greek: άγιος (el) (ágios)

  Ancient: ἅγιος (hágios)

• Greenlandic: iluartoq
• Indonesian: keramat (id)
• Irish: naofa
• Italian: santo (it)
• Latin: sanctus (la), sacer (la)
• Macedonian: свет m (svet)
• Maori: tapu (mi)
• Navajo: diyin

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hellig (no)

• Old English: hāliġ
• Polish: święty (pl) m
• Portuguese: sagrado (pt) m, sacro (pt)
• Quechua: willka
• Romanian: sfânt (ro) m or n, sfântă (ro) f
• Russian: свято́й (ru) (svjatój), свяще́нный (ru) (svjaščénnyj)
• Scots: haly
• Scottish Gaelic: naomh
• Slovak: svätý
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: swěty

• Spanish: santo (es)
• Turkish: kutsal (tr)
• Ukrainian: святи́й (svjatýj), свяще́нний (svjaščénnyj)
• Welsh: sanctaidd (cy)

flawless

• Bulgarian: безупречен (bg) (bezuprečen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聖潔 (zh), 圣洁 (zh) (shèngjié)

• Dutch: foutloos (nl), (in expression: ... huisje) heilig (nl), volmaakt (nl), perfect (nl)
• Finnish: pyhä (fi)

• Indonesian: suci (id)
• Italian: immacolato (it)
• Portuguese: imaculado (pt)
• Russian: свято́й (ru) (svjatój)

separated from or set apart

• Catalan: sagrat (ca)
• Finnish: pyhitetty

• Rapa Nui: tapu

dedicated for a specific purpose

• Armenian: սուրբ (hy) (surb)
• Catalan: sagrat (ca)
• Dutch: heilig (nl)
• Finnish: pyhitetty

• Greek: ιερός (el) (ierós)
• Hebrew: קדוש‎ (he) m (ka'dosh), קדושה‎ f (kdo'sha)
• Latin: sacer (la)
• Scottish Gaelic: coisrigte

slang intensifier

• Faroese: halga
• Finnish: pyhä (fi)

• Polish: święty (pl) m
• Russian: свято́й (ru) (svjatój), бо́жий (ru) (bóžij)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Afrikaans: ^{(please verify)} heilig (af)
• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} shenjtë (sq)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} sankta
• French: ^{(please verify)} saint (fr) m, ^{(please verify)} sainte (fr) f
• German: ^{(please verify)} heilig (de)
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} szent (hu)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 신성한 (sinseonghan)
• Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} پیرۆز‎ (ku) (pîroz)
• Maltese: ^{(please verify)} sagru m, ^{(please verify)} sagra f, ^{(please verify)} sagri pl, ^{(please verify)} mqaddes m, ^{(please verify)} mqaddsa f, ^{(please verify)} mqaddsin pl
• Old English: ^{(please verify)} hāliġ

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} sfânt (ro)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} свето n

  Latin: ^{(please verify)} sveto n

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} svet (sh)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} svet (sh)
• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} svet (sl)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} helig (sv)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} పవిత్రమైన (te) (pavitramaina), ^{(please verify)} పవిత్ర (pavitra)

Noun

holy (plural holies)

1. (archaic) A thing that is extremely holy; used almost exclusively in Holy of Holies.
   • Franz von Reber, Joseph Thacher Clarke, History of Ancient Art (1882) p. 146:

     The holy of holies, a cubical space of ten cubits on the side, was separated from the larger antechamber by four columns, which were also covered with gold and stood upon silver sockets; they bore a second curtain of four colors.

Derived terms

• holiest of holies
• Holy of Holies

Translations

holy thing

• Finnish: pyhä (fi)
• Hebrew: קדש‎ (he) (kodesh)
• Macedonian: светиња f (svetinja), светост f (svetost)

• Russian: святы́ня (ru) f (svjatýnja)
• Swedish: helgedom (sv)

Anagrams

• hylo-

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English hāliġ, from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz; equivalent to hool +‎ -y.

Alternative forms

• hooly, holi, hooli, holye, holie, holly, hoolly, holli, hoolli, oly, oli, wholy, woly, hole, hali, haly, hayly, aly, ali, hale, hely, heli, holiȝ, holiȝe, holia, halge, halege, halȝe, hallȝhe, haliȝ, haliȝe, halie

Adjective

holy (plural and weak singular holye, comparative holyere, superlative holyest)

1. Dedicated to or separated for a religious purpose; sacred, consecrated.
2. Characterized by virtue or perfection.
   • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, page 37:

     […] of moost holi lyuynge, and best taught and moost wyse of heuenly wysdom […]

     […] of the most holy living, and the best-taught and wisest heavenly wisdom […]

Related terms

• halyday
• halywater
• holibred
• Holigost
• holite
• holy crosse
• holyhede
• holyliche
• holynesse
• holy rode
• holyschupe
• holy writ
• lyfholy
• lyfholynesse
• pompholy
• popholy
• þurȝhali

 

Descendants

• English: holy
• Scots: haly, halie

Noun

holy (plural holies)

1. The state of being holy; holiness.
2. One who is sanctified or made holy; a saint, hallow
3. A sacred place; a sanctuary

Derived terms

• alle goddis holy
• holy of holies

Descendants

• holy

References

• “holi, adj. (2)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 4 August 2018.
• “holi, n.” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 4 August 2018.

Etymology 2

From hol +‎ -y

Alternative forms

• holi, holly, holli

Adjective

holy

1. Full of holes or cavities; porous, spongy; hollow.

Derived terms

• holinesse

Descendants

• English: holey

References

• “holi, adj. (1)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 4 August 2018.