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sacred

 - 5 dictionary results

sa⋅cred

  [sey-krid]
–adjective
1. devoted or dedicated to a deity or to some religious purpose; consecrated.
2. entitled to veneration or religious respect by association with divinity or divine things; holy.
3. pertaining to or connected with religion (opposed to secular or profane ): sacred music; sacred books.
4. reverently dedicated to some person, purpose, or object: a morning hour sacred to study.
5. regarded with reverence: the sacred memory of a dead hero.
6. secured against violation, infringement, etc., as by reverence or sense of right: sacred oaths; sacred rights.
7. properly immune from violence, interference, etc., as a person or office.
Use sacred in a Sentence
Origin:
1275–1325; ME, orig. ptp. of sacren to consecrate < L sacrāre to devote, deriv. of sacer holy; see -ed 2

Related forms:
sa⋅cred⋅ly, adverb
sa⋅cred⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
2. venerable, divine. See holy. 4. consecrated. 5. revered. 6. sacrosanct. 7. inviolate, inviolable.

Antonyms:
2. blasphemous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To sacred
sa·cred   (sā'krĭd)   
adj.  

  1. Dedicated to or set apart for the worship of a deity.

  2. Worthy of religious veneration: the sacred teachings of the Buddha.

  3. Made or declared holy: sacred bread and wine.

  4. Dedicated or devoted exclusively to a single use, purpose, or person: sacred to the memory of her sister; a private office sacred to the President.

  5. Worthy of respect; venerable.

  6. Of or relating to religious objects, rites, or practices.


[Middle English, past participle of sacren, to consecrate, from Old French sacrer, from Latin sacrāre, from sacer, sacr-, sacred; see sak- in Indo-European roots.]
sa'cred·ly adv., sa'cred·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

sacred 
c.1300, from pp. of obs. verb sacren "to make holy" (c.1225), from O.Fr. sacrer (12c.), from L. sacrare "to make sacred, consecrate," from sacer (gen. sacri) "sacred, dedicated, holy, accursed," from O.L. saceres, which Tucker connects to base *saq- "bind, restrict, enclose, protect," explaining that "words for both 'oath' & 'curse' are regularly words of 'binding.' " But Buck merely groups it with Oscan sakrim, Umbrian sacra and calls it "a distinctive Italic group, without any clear outside connections." Nasalized form is sancire "make sacred, confirm, ratify, ordain." Sacred cow "object of Hindu veneration," is from 1891; fig. sense is first recorded 1910, from Western views of Hinduism.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

sacred jargon
Reserved for exclusive use by something. The term might mean only writable by whatever it is sacred to.
For example, "Register 7 is sacred to the interrupt handler" would mean that if any other code changed the contents of register 7, dire consequences would ensue.
[The Jargon File]
(2002-12-30)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Encyclopedia

sacred

the power, being, or realm understood by religious persons to be at the core of existence and to have a transformative effect on their lives and destinies. Other terms, such as holy, divine, transcendent, ultimate being (or reality), mystery, and perfection (or purity) have been used for this domain. "Sacred" is also an important technical term in the scholarly study and interpretation of religions

Learn more about sacred with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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