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Word of the Day

Saturday, April 19, 2003

sacrosanct

\SAK-roh-sankt\ , adjective;
1.
Extremely sacred or inviolable.
2.
Not to be entered or trespassed upon.
3.
Above or beyond criticism, change, or interference.
Quotes:
The family was viewed as sacrosanct: divorce was highly unusual and children were expected to be grateful for the sacrifices that parents, who postponed their own gratifications in forming a family, made on their behalf.
-- Alan Wolfe, One Nation, After All
Espionage is about redefining Good and Evil, the violable and the sacrosanct.
-- Edward Shirley, Know Thine Enemy
A single tree
With sinuous trunk, boughs exquisitely wreathed,
Grew there; an ash which Winter for himself
Decked out with pride, and with outlandish grace
-- Mary McNamara, "TV: It's good for you", The Prelude, Book VI, "Cambridge and the Alps", August 16, 2009
Origin:
Sacrosanct comes from Latin sacrosanctus, "consecrated with religious ceremonies, hence holy, sacred," from sacrum, "religious rite" (from sacer, "holy") + sanctus, "consecrated," from sancire, "to make sacred by a religious act."
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