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The state or quality of being sacred or holy; holiness; saintliness; moral purity; godliness. To sanctity she made no pretense, and, indeed, narrowly escaped the imputation of irreligion. Macaulay.

To shelter by means of a sanctuary or sacred privileges. [Obs.] Shak.

A sacred place; a consecrated spot; a holy and inviolable site. Hence, specifically:

A sacred place; hence, a place of retreat; a room reserved for personal use; as, an editor's sanctum. Sanctum sanctorum Etym: [L.] , the Holy of Holies; the most holy place, as in the Jewish temple.

ng since obsolete in vernacular use, but preserved to the present day as the literary and sacred dialect of India. It is nearly allied to the Persian, and to the principal languages of Europe, classical and modern, and by its more perfect preservation of the roots and forms of the primitive language from which they are…

a proverb; a maxim. His champions are the prophets and apostles, His weapons holy saws of sacred writ. Shak.

ecies of lamellicorn beetles of the genus Scarabæus, or family Scarabæidæ, especially the sacred, or Egyptian, species (Scarabæus sacer, and S. Egyptiorum).

erfume. Balm from a silver box distilled around, Shall all bedew the roots, and scent the sacred ground. Dryden.

Contained in the Scriptures; according to the Scriptures, or sacred oracles; biblical; as, a scriptural doctrine.

hows, combats, sports, and the like. -- Secular music, any music or songs not adapted to sacred uses. -- Secular hymn or poem, a hymn or poem composed for the secular games, or sung or rehearsed at those games.

An agent in the massacres in Paris, committed in patriotic frenzy, on the 22d of September, 1792.

to cover from injury or annoyance; to shield; to protect. Those ruins sheltered once his sacred head. Dryden. You have no convents . . . in which such persons may be received and sheltered. Southey.

The sacred law of the Turkish empire.

A case, box, or receptacle, especially one in which are deposited sacred relics, as the bones of a saint.

Of or pertaining to Sicily or its inhabitants. Sicilian vespers, the great massacre of the French in Sicily, in the year 1282, on the evening of Easter Monday, at the hour of vespers.

The white indris of Madagascar. It is regarded by the natives as sacred.

Doubting or denying the truth of revelation, or the sacred Scriptures. The skeptical system subverts the whole foundation of morals. R. Hall. -- Skep"tac*al*ly, adv. -- Skep"tic*al*ness, n.

Marked with religious rites and pomps; enjoined by, or connected with, religion; sacred. His holy rites and solemn feasts profaned. Milton. The worship of this image was advanced, and a solemn supplication observed everry year. Bp. Stillingfleet.

Not lay or temporal; relating to sacred things; ecclesiastical; as, the spiritual functions of the clergy; lords spiritual and temporal; a spiritual corporation. Spiritual coadjuctor. (Eccl.) See the Note under Jesuit. -- Spiritual court (Eccl. Law), an ecclesiastical court, or a court having jurisdiction in ecclesias…

ed, out of deep darkness dread, Legions of sprights. Spenser. To thee, O Father, Son, and Sacred Spright. Fairfax.