verb, -crat⋅ed, -crat⋅ing, adjective | 1. | to make or declare sacred; set apart or dedicate to the service of a deity: to consecrate a new church building. |
| 2. | to make (something) an object of honor or veneration; hallow: a custom consecrated by time. |
| 3. | to devote or dedicate to some purpose: a life consecrated to science. |
| 4. | to admit or ordain to a sacred office, esp. to the episcopate. |
| 5. | to change (bread and wine) into the Eucharist. |
| 6. | consecrated; sacred. |
con·se·crate (kŏn'sĭ-krāt') tr.v. con·se·crat·ed, con·se·crat·ing, con·se·crates
[Middle English consecraten, from Latin cōnsecrāre, cōnsecrāt- : com-, intensive pref.; see com- + sacrāre, to make sacred (from sacer, sacr-, sacred; see sak- in Indo-European roots).] con'se·cra'tive adj., con'se·cra'tor n., con'se·cra·to'ry (-krə-tôr'ē, -tōr'ē) adj. |