sacred

sacred, a. and n.
  (ˈseɪkrɪd)
  Forms: see sacre v.
  [f. sacre v.¹ + -ed¹.
  The original ppl. notion has (as the pronunciation indicates) disappeared from the use of the word, which is now nearly synonymous with the L. sacer. A similar change of meaning has taken place in the corresponding Romanic forms, F. sacré (which prob. influenced the English use), Sp., Pg. sagrado.]
  A. adj.
  † 1. Of the Eucharistic elements: Consecrated.

c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 465 But nou in þe reume of englond stryuen manye of þe sacrid oost. c 1450 Mankind 383 in Macro Plays 15 By cokkys body sakyrde, I haue such a peyn in my arme. Ibid. 605 For Cokkes body sakyrde, make space!

  2. (Followed by to.) a. Consecrated to; esteemed especially dear or acceptable to a deity.

13.. K. Alis. 6777 That on [tree] to the sonne..That othir..Is sakret [MS. Laud sacrified] in the mone vertue. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 4408 Two tren..The ton y-sacryd to the mone, The tother halwed to Phebus. c 1430 ― Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 214 This fowle is sacred unto Jupiter. 1719 Free-thinker No. 116 ¶1 The First of May has been, and will be Sacred to Love in all polite Nations. 1788 Lemprière Classical Dict. (1792) s.v. Jupiter, The oak is sacred to him because he first taught mankind to live upon acorns. 1874 Deutsch Rem. 439 The dove sacred to Venus.

  b. Dedicated, set apart, exclusively appropriated to some person or some special purpose.

1667 Milton P.L. iii. 208 To destruction sacred and devote. Ibid. ix. 924 Had it bin onely coveting to Eye That sacred Fruit, sacred to abstinence. 1721 in Collect. Epitaphs (1802) 10 Sacred to the memory of Samuel Butler. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 79 The sacrifice being over, he retires alone to a solitude sacred to these occasions. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 571 Scenes Sacred to neatness and repose. 1811 Pinkerton Mod. Geog., Egypt (abr. ed. 3) 756 The papyrus, sacred to literature. 1821 Shelley Epipsych. 492 A pleasure-house Made sacred to his sister and his spouse. 1842 Gwilt Archit. §245 The parts [of a Roman house] which were sacred to the use of the family were the peristyle [etc.].

  3. a. Of things, places, of persons and their offices, etc.: Set apart for or dedicated to some religious purpose, and hence entitled to veneration or religious respect; made holy by association with a god or other object of worship; consecrated, hallowed.

1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 3822 Reliques sacrid, þe holy eke vessels. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 37 Said then the Palmer; ‘Lo! where does appeare The sacred soile where all our perills grow’. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. ii. i. 183, I haue dispatch'd..To sacred Delphos, to Appollo's Temple, Cleomenes and Dion. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iv. 510 Some pools have been made sacred for their immense profundity and opacity. a 1704 T. Brown Lond. & Lacedem. Oracles Wks. 1709 III. iii. 147 Their [the Jewish Priests'] sacred Garments were of Linnen. 1744 Akenside Ode, On Leaving Holland 36, I trace the village and the sacred spire. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxiv, Thou art..one of those disorderly men, who, taking on them the sacred character without due cause, profane the holy rites. 1820 Shelley Hymn Merc. lxxxviii, By sacred Styx a mighty oath to swear. 1839 Thirlwall Greece VI. 77 A circular building, called the Philippeum,..within the sacred precincts in which the Olympic games were celebrated. 1857 Wilkinson Egypt Time of Pharaohs 9 The sacred boats of the dead. 1883 H. Yule in Encycl. Brit. XV. 330/2 Thus the Bo-tree (or pippal), so sacred among the Buddhists of Ceylon, is still cherished near mosques. 1885 J. H. Middleton ibid. XIX. 607/2 The other [vase], from Cyprus, has the Assyrian sacred tree, with similar guardian animals.

  b. sacred book, sacred writing, etc.: one of those in which the laws and teachings of a religion are embodied. sacred history: the history contained in the Bible. sacred number: a number (esp. seven) to which is attributed a peculiar depth of significance in religious symbolism. sacred poetry: poetry concerned with religious themes. sacred music: music which accompanies sacred words or which has a certain solemn character of its own. sacred concert: a concert of sacred music. Sacred Blood, the blood of Christ. sacred orders [eccl. L. ordines sacri], the holy or major orders.

1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. iii. 61 His Weapons [are] holy Sawes of sacred Writ. a 1604 Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 59 Who for the space of certaine yeeres, brought him up in sacred letters. 1629 Milton Christ's Nativ. iii, Say Heav'nly Muse, shall not thy sacred vein Afford a present to the Infant God? 1697 Dryden Virg. Bucol. iv. 5 The last great age, foretold by sacred rhymes, Renews its finish'd course. 1709–29 V. Mandey Syst. Math., Arith. 8 Seven is a Sacred Number, chiefly used in Holy Scripture. [1709 J. Bingham Origines Ecclesiasticæ II. iii. i. 9 The Clergy of the Superior Orders are commonly called the ἱερώµενοι Holy and Sacred, as in Socrates and others.] 1726 J. Ayliffe Parergon 184 The first [sc. sub-deacons, deacons, and priests] the Canon Law..stiles Sacred Orders. 1781 Cowper Hope 449 The sacred book no longer suffers wrong, Bound in the fetters of an unknown tongue. 1784 ― Task vi. 634 Ten thousand sit Patiently present at a sacred song. 1832 Rep. Sel. Comm. Dramatic Lit. with Minutes of Evidence 50 in Parl. Papers 1831–2 VII. 1, I thought it would be a better thing to represent plays than to give a pretended sacred concert. 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 374/1 The clerical orders of the Catholic church are divided into two classes, sacred and minor orders. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. IX. Sub-introd. 73 Sacred History is that narrative of events, commencing from the creation of the world, which is recorded in the Bible, and is so called, because it is assumed to be written under divine superintendence, and is evidently associated with the being, perfections, and plans of Deity. 1853 (title) Catalogue of the Library of the Sacred Harmonic Society. a 1854 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. vi. (1878) 211 The relation in which sacred poetry stands to revealed teaching and Holy Writ. 1862 in N. Longmate Hungry Mills (1978) viii. 113 Never was so much sacred music heard upon the streets of Manchester as during the last few months. 1877 Monier Williams Hinduism i. 13 India..has only one sacred language and only one sacred literature, accepted and revered by all adherents of Hinduism alike. 1884 Addis & Arnold Cath. Dict. 622/1 The orders of bishop, priest, deacon, and (but only since the thirteenth century) subdeacon are called sacred’ or ‘greater’. 1900 Cornish Echo 30 Mar. 4/4 Wesley Chapel Falmouth. Sacred Concert by Truro Wesleyan Church Choir. 1901 Procter & Frere Prayer Bk. xvi. 650 The Sacramentary of Serapion gives forms of ordination only for the three sacred orders. 1920 Wodehouse Jill the Reckless (1922) xvi. 230 It is the custom of the dwellers in Atlantic City..to attend a species of vaudeville performances—incorrectly termed a sacred concert—on Sunday nights. 1922 Chesterton Ballad of St. Barbara p. vii, In the grey rocks the burning blossom Glowed terrible as the sacred blood. 1934 Daily Gleaner 5 Jan. 21/2 Sacred Concert..A fine programme of sacred songs, instrumental music and recitations will be presented at St. Thomas' Church, Bath, on Sunday. 1950 Cornishman 12 Jan. 4/2 Sacred Concert by Ludgvan Male Choir with Elise Harvey, guest soloist. 1965 New Statesman 19 Nov. 794/3 We are made aware of the ideas of the period—notably the Pope's own contributions to the Franciscan v. Dominican battle about the Sacred Blood. 1978 Listener 24 Aug. 244/4 By 1733 Bach had written the vast majority of his sacred music.

  c. rarely of a deity: Venerable, holy.

1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 461 Now, sacred Pales, in a lofty Strain I sing the Rural Honours of thy Reign.

  d. Applied as a specific defining adj. to various animals and plants that are or have been considered sacred to certain deities.

1783 Latham Synopsis Birds I. ii. 526 Sacred Cuckow... Inhabits Malabar, where the natives hold it sacred. 1790 J. White Jrnl. Voy. N.S. Wales 193 We this day shot the Sacred Kings-Fisher. 1840 tr. Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 243 The Sacred Ibis (I. religiosa). 1866 Treas. Bot. 120/2 Bamboo, sacred, of the Chinese, Nandina domestica. Ibid. 781/2 Nelumbium speciosum, the Sacred Lotus. 1870 Nicholson Man. Zool. lxxxiii. (1875) 657 The Sacred Monkey of the Hindoos (Semnopithecus entellus). 1877 J. Gibson in Encycl. Brit. VI. 131/2 The Sacred Beetle of Egypt, Ateuchus sacer. 1879 C. P. Johnson ibid. IX. 154/2 The Sacred Fig, Pippul, or Bo, Ficus religiosa.

  4. transf. and fig. Regarded with or entitled to respect or reverence similar to that which attaches to holy things.

1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 247 In so sacred a senate [sc. the Council of Trent: orig. in tam augusto conventu]. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. i. 40 He..Doth but vsurpe the Sacred name of Knight, Prophaning this most Honourable Order. 1596 ― Tam. Shr. i. i. 181 Sacred and sweet was all I saw in her. a 1645 Waller At Pens-hurst ii. 26 Goe boye and carve this passion on the barke Of yonder tree, which stands the sacred marke Of noble Sidneys birth. 1656 Cowley Misc., On Death of Crashaw 2 Poet and Saint! to thee alone are giv'n The two most sacred Names of Earth and Heav'n. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 456 ¶3 There is something sacred in Misery to great and good Minds. 1754 Gray Progr. Poesy 94 Ope the sacred source of sympathetic Tears. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iv. 108 Ere he can lisp his mother's sacred name. 1842 Browning K. Vict. & K. Chas. 1st Yr. 11, Ay, call this parting—death! The sacreder your memory becomes. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xxi, To a feather-brained school-girl nothing is sacred. 1863 Hawthorne Our Old Home II. 114 But the most sacred objects of all [at Greenwich Hospital] are two of Nelson's coats, under separate glass cases. 1878 R. W. Dale Lect. Preach. ix. 292 To you America must be sacred as well as Judea.

  b. esp. as an epithet of royalty. Now chiefly Hist. or arch.; formerly often in the phrase His (her, your) most Sacred Majesty.

1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 133 Iustice most sacred Duke against the Abbesse. 1599 ― Hen. V, i. ii. 7 God and his Angels guard your sacred Throne, And make you long become it. 1634 Ford Perk. Warbeck iii. iv, Sacred King, Be deafe to his knowne malice! 1639 Marquis of Hamilton in H. Papers (Camden) I. 76 Most sacred Souuraigne. a 1645 Waller Danger His Majesty Escaped 54 Yet the bold Britans still securely row'd, Charles and his vertue was their sacred load. 1726 Swift Gulliver i. vii, That his sacred Majesty, and the Council, who are your Judges, were [etc.]. 1757 Acts Gen. Assembly Georgia (1881) 127 We therefore pray your most Sacred Majesty that it may be Enacted.

  c. in sarcastic use.

1820 Shelley Œdipus i. 5 And these most sacred nether promontories Lie satisfied with layers of fat. Ibid. ii. i. 107 That her most sacred Majesty should be Invited to attend the feast of Famine. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. Pref. 17 To obtain from Mr. Bentham's executors a sacred bone of his great, dissected Master.

  5. a. Secured by religious sentiment, reverence, sense of justice, or the like, against violation, infringement, or encroachment.

1530 Palsgr. 696/2 Touch it nat, it is sacred. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. V 8 b, Syth that tyme, was neuer so vndeuoute a kynge that euer enterprised that sacred priuilege to violate. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. iii. 149, I am combined by a sacred Vow. 1667 South Serm. (1697) II. 29 The sacredest Bonds which the Conscience of Man can be bound with. 1682 Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. iii. §19 Let thy Oaths be sacred. 1781 Cowper Charity 28 The rights of man were sacred in his view. 1793 Horsley Serm. (1811) 187 Maintaining what in the new vocabulary of modern democracy is named the sacred right of insurrection. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 139 He assured them that their property would be held sacred. 1855 Ibid. xii. III. 210 Strong desires and resentments which he mistook for sacred duties.

transf. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 280 No buzzing Sounds disturb their Golden Sleep, 'Tis sacred Silence all.

  b. Of a person (hence of his office): Having a religiously secured immunity from violence or attachment; sacrosanct, inviolable.

1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Sacrosancta potestas, the sacred and vnuiolable power of the Tribunes. 1618 Bolton Florus i. v. (1636) 14 The Augurship became sacred among the Romans. 1879 Froude Cæsar v. 48 The persons of Saturninus and Glaucia were doubly sacred, for one was tribune and the other prætor.

  c. With from: Protected by some sanction from injury or incursion.

1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. xl. IV. 63 No place was safe or sacred from their depredations. 1845 Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) II. 479 He is himself sacred from punishment of every description. 1847 Tennyson Princess ii. 152 Lapt In the arms of leisure, sacred from the blight Of ancient influence and scorn.

  d. fig. Devoted to some purpose, not to be lightly intruded upon or handled.

1867 Baker Nile Tribut. i. 15 Thus I had a supply when every water-skin was empty, and on the last day I divided my sacred stock amongst the men.

  6. Accursed. [After L. sacer; freq. translating or in allusion to Virgil's auri saca fames (æn. iii. 57).] Now rare.

1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. i. 120 Our Empresse with her sacred wit To villainie and vengance consecrate. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. xii. 1 O sacred hunger of ambitious mindes. 1600 Dekker Fortunatus Wks. 1873 I. 95 If through golds sacred hunger thou dost pine. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 122 Hither the sacred thirst of gaine..allureth the aduenturous merchant. 1700 Dryden Cock & Fox 254 For sacred hunger of my Gold I die. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 124 A feeble race! yet oft The sacred sons of vengeance; on whose course Corrosive famine waits, and kills the year. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. II. i. 62 Smitten with a sacred rage for topography.

  7. Special collocations. † sacred artery (see quot.). sacred axe, a mark on Chinese porcelain, supposed to designate warriors. sacred band Gr. Hist., a body consisting of 300 young nobles, who formed part of the permanent military force of Thebes from 379 b.c. sacred bark [Sp. cáscara sagrada], the bark of Rhamnus Purshianus of California, used as a tonic aperient. sacred circle, an exclusive company, an élite. sacred college (see college n. 1). sacred egoism = sacro egoismo. † sacred elixir = sacred tincture. † Sacred Empire, the Holy Roman Empire. sacred fire [L. sacer ignis, see holy fire], erysipelas. sacred malady [L. sacer morbus], epilepsy (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1897). sacred month, place (see quots.). † sacred tincture [= mod.L. tinctura sacra: see Chambers Cycl. Supp. (1753) s.v. Aloes], a preparation of rhubarb and aloes. † sacred vein [L. vena sacra] (see quot.). Sacred War (see war). sacred way, a route used by religious processions, pilgrims, etc.

1656 Blount Glossogr. s.v. Artery, *Sacred Artery, a branch of the great Arteries descendent branch, goes to the Marrow which is in the Os Sacrum.

1866 W. Chaffers Marks Pottery & Porcelain (ed. 2) 389 The *sacred axe; a [Chinese] mark found on green porcelain. 1868 J. Marryat Pottery & Porcelain ix. (ed. 3) 274 The sacred axe is assigned to warriors.

1770 Langhorne Plutarch's Lives, Pelopidas II. 335 Gorgidas as some say, first formed the *sacred band.

1891 Century Dict., *Sacred bark. 1897 in Syd. Soc. Lex.

1939 Country Life 11 Feb. 156/1 The courses, however, which have been admitted into this *sacred circle—Westward Ho! for the Amateur Championship, Carnoustie for the Open, and Troon and St. Anne's for both meetings, have all been of a certain ancient standing.

1928 H. W. Schneider Making Fascist State i. 11 Salandra's policy of ‘*sacred egoism’, of bargaining with both sides to see who would promise Italy the most for her neutrality, is both disgraceful and useless. 1970 R. A. H. Robinson Origins of Franco's Spain iv. 186 Aguirre still pursued a policy of sacred egoism and held aloof from non-Basque causes.

1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVI. 591/1 *Sacred Elixir. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 660 Tincture of Rhubarb and Aloes; formerly, Sacred Elixir.

1617 Moryson Itin. i. 284 It was decreed..that hereafter in the *sacred Empire the under written pieces of money should be coyned.

1693 Emilianne's Hist. Monast. Ord. xiv. 127 In the year 1089..the *Sacred Fire.., having spread it self into several parts of Europe.

1872 W. N. Molesworth Hist. Eng. II. 361 Among the other expedients that had been suggested in this convention [of Chartist delegates, 1838] was that of observing what was called a ‘*sacred month’, during which the working classes throughout the whole kingdom were to abstain from every kind of labour, in the hope of compelling the governing classes to concede the charter.

1727–52 Chambers Cycl. s.v., In the civil law, *sacred place chiefly denotes that, where a person deceased has been interred.

1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIV. 393/1 Aloetic wine, or *sacred tincture.

1656 Blount Glossogr. s.v. Vein, *Sacred vein (vena sacra) the second branch of the flank veine running to the Os sacrum, and thence getting this name.

1884 A. Lang in M. Hunt tr. Grimm's Household Tales I. p. xiv, Amber and jade and slaves were carried half across the world by the old trade-routes and *sacred ways. 1910 Encycl. Brit. II. 883/2 The chain..of Aegaleos, through a depression in which was the line of the sacred way, where the torchlight processions from Athens used to descend to the coast. 1937 G. Mitchell Come away, Death i. 31 Now we go to Eleusis along the Sacred Way, to penetrate the meaning of the Mysteries. 1971 Garside & Wilkins tr. Ceram's Gods, Graves & Scholars (ed. 2) xxiii. 292 The Sacred Way of Babylon ran..from the outer city walls to the Gate of Ishtar.

  † B. n. pl. [after L. sacra neut. pl.] Obs.
  1. Sacred rites or solemnities.

1624 Heywood Gunaik. 26 Her Sacreds and Festivalls were called Angeronalia. 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 60 They might..also behold whatever Sacreds were solemnized within the Court of their great Jupiter Capitolinus. 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. ii. iii. 35 These Sacreds were first celebrated in the East by these She-priests of Bacchus. 1741 Watts Improv. Mind i. iii. §3 By his manuscripts we are more acquainted in this last century with the Turkish sacreds than any one had ever informed us. 1749 Phil. Trans. XLVI. 216 The Romans became extremely fond of the Mithriac Sacreds.

  2. Things consecrated or offered in sacrifice to the gods.

1608 Topsell Serpents 24 This snake the holy dishes..Did hast to touch, like as it would the sacreds tast. 1624 Heywood Gunaik. i. 47 The sacreds that were made to these, were by such as having escaped any dangerous desease, or pestilent sicknesse, had bin spared by the fates.

  3. Sacred utensils or vessels.

1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 219 The Heads of Bulls..have been found in and about our Antiquity, together with other Sacreds peculiarly appertaining to the Ministration of Their Idolatrous Rites. 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. i. x. 56 Hieroglyphic Leters, i.e. Leters engraven in sacreds.

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