holy

EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

holie, hooly (archaic)
Holy (when referring to someone or something important)
'oly (pronunciation spelling)

EtymologyEdit

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.

PronunciationEdit

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhəʊli/
(US) enPR: hōʹlē, IPA^(key): /ˈhoʊli/
Audio (US)
(file)
Rhymes: -əʊli
Homophones: holey, wholly

AdjectiveEdit

holy (comparative holier, superlative holiest)

Dedicated to a religious purpose or a god.
I'm planning to visit the holy city of Jerusalem this Christmas.
Revered in a religion.
(Can we add an example for this sense?)
Morally perfect or flawless, or nearly so.
My grandmother is a very holy woman.
Separated or set apart from (something unto something or someone else).
Set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose, or for use by a single entity or person.
(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!

SynonymsEdit

(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

AntonymsEdit

(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 termsEdit

Related termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

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)
Gothic: 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃 (weihs)
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)
Plautdietsch: heilich
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)
Ugaritic: 𐎖𐎄𐎌 (qdš)
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)
French: saint (fr), bénit (fr)
German: heilig (de)
Gothic: 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃 (weihs)
Greek: άγιος (el) (ágios)
Ancient: ἅγιος (hágios)
Greenlandic: iluartoq
Indonesian: keramat (id)
Irish: naofa
Italian: santo (it)
Lakota: wakȟáŋ
Latin: sanctus (la), sacer (la)
Macedonian: свет m (svet)
Maori: tapu (mi)
Navajo: diyin

Norwegian:
Bokmål: hellig (no)
Old English: hāliġ
Plautdietsch: heilich
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)
Yup'ik: tanqilria

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:
Central 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)

NounEdit

holy (plural holies)

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

TranslationsEdit

holy thing

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

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

AnagramsEdit

hylo-

Middle EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

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

Alternative formsEdit

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

AdjectiveEdit

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

Dedicated to or separated for a religious purpose; sacred, consecrated.
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 […]