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The sin or crime of violating or profaning sacred things; the alienating to laymen, or to common purposes, what has been appropriated or consecrated to religious persons or uses. And the hid treasures in her sacred tomb With sacrilege to dig. Spenser. Families raised upon the ruins of churches, and enriched with the sp…

Violating sacred things; polluted with sacrilege; involving sacrilege; profane; impious. Above the reach of sacrilegious hands. pope. -- Sac`ri*le"gious*ly, adv. -- Sac`ri*le"gious*ness, n.

A apartment in a church where the sacred utensils, vestments, etc., are kept; a vestry.

Sacred; inviolable. [R.] Dr. H. More.

A work in the Persian tongue, being a summary of the Zend- Avesta, or sacred books.

Consecrated; sacred; holy; pious. "A most sainted king." Shak. Amongst the enthroned gods on sainted seats. Milton.

The act of consecrating, or of setting apart, for a sacred purpose; consecration. Bp. Burnet.

To make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or religious use; to consecrate by appropriate rites; to hallow. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Gen. ii. 3. Moses . . . sanctified Aaron and his garnment. Lev. viii. 30.

Possessing sanctimony; holy; sacred; saintly. Shak.

Holiness; sacredness; sanctity. [R.] milton.

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.

g 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…

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

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

rfume. 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.

ows, 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.