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The act of violating sacred things, or of treating them with contempt or irreverence; irreverent or too familiar treatment or use of what is sacred; desecration; as, the profanation of the Sabbath; the profanation of a sanctuary; the profanation of the name of God.

Not sacred or holy; not possessing peculiar sanctity; unconsecrated; hence, relating to matters other than sacred; secular; -- opposed to sacred, religious, or inspired; as, a profane place. "Profane authors." I. Disraeli. The profane wreath was suspended before the shrine. Gibbon.

One who treats sacred things with irreverence, or defiles what is holy; one who uses profane language. Hooker.

A sacred song; a poetical composition for use in the praise or worship of God. Humus devout and holy psalms Singing everlastingly. Milton.

A writer or composer of sacred songs; -- a title particularly applied to David and the other authors of the Scriptural psalms.

One who sings sacred songs; a psalmist.

The act, practice, or art of singing psalms or sacred songs; also, psalms collectively, or a collection of psalms.

A writer of psalms, or sacred songs and hymns.

The act or practice of writing psalms, or sacred songs.

One of a class of sacred Hindoo poetical works in the Sanskrit language which treat of the creation, destruction, and renovation of worlds, the genealogy and achievements of gods and heroes, the reigns of the Manus, and the transactions of their descendants. The principal Puranas are eighteen in number, and there are t…

iving and containing something, as a basket, a vase, a bag, a reservoir; a repository. O sacred receptacle of my joys! Shak.

a stronghold which protects by its strength, or a sanctuary which secures safety by its sacredness; a place inaccessible to an enemy. The high hills are a refuger the wild goats. Ps. civ. 18. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed. Ps. ix. 9.

en; to relax; to remove the obligation of; as, to release an ordinance. [Obs.] Hooker. A sacred vow that none should aye Spenser.

tooth or a bone of this saint. Addison. Thy relics, Rowe, to this fair urn we trust, And sacred place by Dryden's awful dust. Pope.

Specifically, the last book of the sacred canon, containing the prophecies of St. John; the Apocalypse.

reverent quality; reverent; as, reverential fear or awe. "A reverential esteem of things sacred." South.

Corrosive or injurious accretion or influence. Sacred truths cleared from all rust and dross of human mixtures. Eikon Basilike.

The oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers; hence, a sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. [Obs.] I'll take the sacrament on't. Shak.

Of or pertaining to a sacrament or the sacraments; of the nature of a sacrament; sacredly or solemny binding; as, sacramental rites or elements.

To consecrate; to make sacred. [Obs.] Holland.