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An obligation; a vow. [Obs.] They bound themselves by a sacred lay and oath. Holland.

and sisters. Of all the dearest bonds we prove Thou countest sons' and mothers' love Most sacred, most Thine own. Keble.

A grotto on the Palatine Hill sacred to Lupercus, the Lycean Pan.

A sacred inclosure or temple; -- so called by the islanders of the Pacific Ocean.

sage; to be intricate. Five miles meandering with a mazy motion Through wood and dale the sacred river ran. Coleridge.

as a servant, attendant, or agent; to attend and serve; to perform service in any office, sacred or secular. The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. Matt. xx. 28.

A composition adapted to sacred words in the elaborate polyphonic church style; an anthem.

ite or rosy flowers, followed by black several-seeded berries. The ancients considered it sacred to Venus. The flowers, leaves, and berries are used variously in perfumery and as a condiment, and the beautifully mottled wood is used in turning.

ive. Princes' children took names from their natal places. Camden. Propitious star, whose sacred power Presided o'er the monarch's natal hour. Prior.

us of great water lilies. The North American species is Nelumbo lutea, the Asiatic is the sacred lotus, N. speciosa. [Written also Nelumbium.]

A solemn affirmation, connected with a sacred object, or one regarded as sacred, as the temple, the altar, the blood of Abel, the Bible, the Koran, etc.

Anything offered or presented in worship or sacred service; an offering; a sacrifice. A peculiar ... oblation given to God. Jer. Taylor. A pin was the usual oblation. Sir. W. Scott.

A charge or trust, of a sacred nature, conferred by God himself; as, the office of a priest under the old dispensation, and that of the apostles in the new. Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Rom. xi. 13.

later a symbol of the trinity formed by Vishnu, Siva, and Brahma. -- Om mani padme hun, a sacred formula of buddhism (esp. of the Lamaists) translated "O, the Jewel in the Lotus, Amen," and referring to Amitabha, who is commonly represented as standing or sitting within a lotus.

mmunications, revelations, or messages delivered by God to the prophets; also, the entire sacred Scriptures -- usually in the plural. The first principles of the oracles of God. Heb. v. 12.

He was figured as a mummy wearing the royal cap of Upper Egypt, and was symbolized by the sacred bull, called Apis. Cf. Serapis. -- O*sir"i*an, a.

dialect descended from Sanskrit, and like that, a dead language, except when used as the sacred language of the Buddhist religion in Farther India, etc.

ially, one who bore a branch of palm as a token that he had visited the Holy Land and its sacred places. Chaucer. Pilgrims and palmers plighted them together. P. Plowman. The pilgrim had some home or dwelling place, the palmer had none. The pilgrim traveled to some certain, designed place or places, but the palmer to a…

A mountain in Greece, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, and famous for a temple of Apollo and for the Castalian spring. Grass of Parnassus. (Bot.) See under Grass, and Parnassia. -- To climb Parnassus, to write poetry. [Colloq.]

A sacred tree (Ficus religiosa) of the Buddhists, a kind of fig tree which attains great size and venerable age. See Bo tree. [Written also pippul tree, and pipal tree.]