Wiktionary

sanctuary

English

edit

Etymology

edit

From Middle English seyntuarie, from Old French saintuaire, from Late Latin sanctuarium (“a sacred place, a shrine, a private cabinet, in Medieval Latin also temple, church, churchyard, cemetery, right of asylum”), from Latin sanctus (“holy, sacred”); see saint.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

sanctuary (countable and uncountable, plural sanctuaries)

 
A sanctuary in the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal
  1. A place of safety, refuge, or protection.
    My car is a sanctuary, where none can disturb me except for people who cut me off.
    • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Last Night with the Dead”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 315:
      She saw him, even as she had last gazed upon him, pale, cold, and awful; but still he was there. The coffin was to her like a shrine; all that she held most dear and most precious was within its dark and silent sanctuary.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      ‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War. […]’
  2. An area set aside for protection.
    The bird sanctuary has strict restrictions on visitors so the birds aren't disturbed.
  3. A state of being protected, asylum.
    The government granted sanctuary to the defector, protecting him from his former government.
  4. The consecrated (or sacred) area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.

Synonyms

edit
Synonyms of sanctuary

Hyponyms

edit

Derived terms

edit

Translations

edit

Further reading

edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=sanctuary&oldid=81341484"