▪ I. saint, a. and n.
(seɪnt; unstressed sənt, snt)
Forms: α. 2–6 seint, 3–6 seinte, seynt(e, sainte, 4–5 saynt, (2 zeinte, 3 sæinte, 5 seyntte, 6 seeynt, sayent), 4– saint. β. (prefixed to a name beginning with a cons.) 3–4 sein, 4 san, sen, 4–6 sayn, 5 sayne, sain, syn. γ. 3–5 sant, 4–6 sent, (3 sante, sente, 4 santt, sande, sont, 5 synt, scent, 6 sentt(e), 8–9 Sc. saunt. δ. (chiefly Sc.) 4–8 sanct (6 -e), 5 senct, 5–6 saynct, seynct, 6–7 sainct.
[a. OF. saint, seint, fem. sainte, seinte (sancte, saente, sente), later sainct, as prefix occas. saen, sain, mod.F. saint = Pr. sanct, sant, It., Sp., Pg. santo (before a cons. Pr., It. Sp. san, Pg. são):—L. sanctus, properly pa. pple. of sancīre to enact, ratify, devote, consecrate (cf. sanction).
The Latin word was adopted in most of the Germanic langs.; the variants with vowel other than a are due, partly to loss of stress in the prefixed position, partly to Fr. influence: OE. sanct, OFris. sankt, sunkt, sant, sent, sint, (prefixed) sancte, sente etc., MDu. (chiefly as prefix) sanct, sant(e, sent(e, sint(e, sunte, sonte, Du. sint, dial. seint, sunt, sünt, Flemish zant, MHG. (prefixed) sancte, sant(e, sent(e, mod.G. (prefixed) Sanct, sankt, Da. sankt-, Sw. sankt(e-.
The forms sauynt, sauyn (printed sanynt, sanyn) in the Ayenbite are difficult to account for.]
A. adj. = holy, in various special applications.
1. Prefixed to the name of a canonized person (see B. 2), also to the names of the archangels: now felt to be the n. used appositively. Commonly abbreviated S. or St. (see below).
[In OE. sanctus and sancte (orig. the L. vocative) were used for the masc. and sancta for the fem.]
The possessive of names preceded by ‘Saint’ is often used ellipt. in names of churches, as St. Paul's, St. Peter's. Hence various names of towns, villages, etc., as St. Albans, St. Andrews, St. Bees; also the anglicized forms of some foreign place-names, as † St. Omer's (= F. St.-Omer).
| α c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 49 Seint gregori. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 9 Ure louerd sainte powel. c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 26 Ure lauedi seinte Marie. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8423 Þis bataile ido was A seinte peteres eue. 1340 Ayenb. 233 Ase zayþ saint austin. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 173 The reule of seint Maure or of seint Beneit. 1452 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 277 The feste of Seynte Michell the Archangle. c 1510 More Picus Wks. 9/2 Which is as trew as the gospell of seint John. 1599 Thynne Animadv. (1875) 57 Seinte Hughe Bishoppe of Lincolne. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth v, The rites due to good Saint Valentine. |
| β c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 71 Þe godspelle þe sein lucas makede. a 1300 Cursor M. 16762 + 10 Þe swerd of sorow was at hir hert, Als sayde san symeon. a 1330 Otuel 1585 Bi sein geme. 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 54 Ye sunday after ye Natiuite of sen Jon day, baptist. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (Prose) 42 Sain Benet leris vs in þis sentence, how we sal chese vre abbesse. a 1470 Gregory's Chron. in Hist. Coll. Cit. Lond. (Camden) 168 Syr Phylyppe Dymmoke, that rode in the halle i-armyde clene as Syn Jorge. 1538 Starkey England i. i. 20 Aftur the mynd of Sayn Poule. |
| γ c 1230 Hali Meid. 7 As sente pawel seið, Alle þinge turneð þe gode to god. a 1300 Cursor M. 154 And hit sal be reddynn þanne O Ioachim and of sant tanne [Fairf. seynt anne]. Ibid. 469 Sent micheal..Rais a-gain him for to fight. c 1375 Ibid. 12863 (Fairf.) Sande Iohn nerehand him stode. 14.. in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. (1907) IV. 24 Synt Petyrys mynyster of Exeter. 1557 in Shropsh. Parish Documents (1903) 58 It' Re'd of thomas browne for sentmari day rent iis. |
| δ 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 336 The folk..Held to Sanct Brydis kirk thar way. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 282 Quha sperd, scho said to Sanct Margret thai socht. c 1510 More Picus Wks. 12/2 And remember these wordes of Sainct Paule also. 1562 Winȝet Cert. Tractates iii. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 27 Sanctis Hierome and Augustine. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iv. 230 Sancte Columba. |
¶ Abbreviations: S. and
St.,
pl. SS. and Sts.
Since the 18th c. ‘
St.’ is the form usually employed; but since about 1830 ‘S.’ has been favoured by ecclesiologists. In place-names, and in family names derived from these, only ‘
St.’ is used.
| [c 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 963 To Eliᵹ, þær S. æðeldrið lið. c 1154 Ibid. an. 1132 On S' Petres messe dei.] a 1400 Wyclif's Bible IV. 693 Fynding of S. Steuen martir. 1535 Coverdale Bible, The gospell of S. Mathew... The epistles of S. Paul. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. ¶8 S. Chrysostome that liued in S. Hieromes time. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 33 St. Francis Shyvier the Navarrean Jesuit. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. 344 The storys of their giants, their dragons, and St. George's. 1850 J. H. Newman Serm. Var. Occas. xii. (1857) 263 Those early Religious, of which St. Benedict is the typical representative. 1852 (title) The Homilies of S. John Chrysostom..on the Gospel of St. Matthew. 1877 J. D. Chambers Div. Worship 177 The Octave of S. Stephen. |
2. transf. † a. of heathen deities, etc.
Obs.| c 1375 Cursor M. 7458 (Fairf.), I sulde him sla be seint Mahoun. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5953 By my modir seint Venus. Ibid. 6781 My moder flemed him, Seynt Amour. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 366 Saint Cupid then, and Souldiers to the field. |
b. allusively or ironically.
Obs. in
gen. use.
St. Monday: see
Monday 2.
St. Lubbock's day: a jocular name for any of the bank holidays instituted by Sir John Lubbock's Act, 1871: see
bank holiday.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 40 Ȝe þat secheþ seynt Iame and seintes at Roome, Secheþ Seint Treuþe for he may sauen ow alle. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus ii. i. I ij b, That holy saynte fylgutte or saynte panchart. 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier D 3 b, He sits down in the chaire wrapt in fine cloaths, as though the barber were aboute to make him a foot-cloth for the vicar of saint fooles. 1657 Titus Killing no Murder A 3 b, As Hugh Capet, in taking the Crown, pretended to be admonish't to it in a dreame by St. Valery, and St. Richard: so I beleeve will his Highnes [sc. Cromwell] doe the same, at the instigation of St. Henry and St. Richard his two Sonnes. 1665 Swan Spec. M. iv. §4 (ed. 3) 214, I think the best time to try this, is upon St. Jefferies day, which is neither before Christmass nor after it. 1690 C. Nesse Hist. & Myst. O. & N. Test. I. 39 Our late Anti-Sabbatarians..call'd it Saint-Sabbath. |
† 3. Prefixed to various common nouns (in collocations taken over from Latin and French),
esp. Charity,
Cross,
Spirit,
Trinity.
Obs. Sometimes abbreviated as in 1.
In dedications of churches there occur
St. Cross,
St. Faith,
St. Saviour,
St. Sepulchre.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21465 Bi sant drightin Mi thinc þe wers part es mine. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 104 Al-þough men made bokes, god was þe maistre, And seynt spirit þe saumplarye. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 863 But sle me first for seinte charitee. c 1386 ― Sompn. T. 116 Chideth him weel, for seinte Trinitee. c 1440 Generydes 4282 He..askyd almes for seynt charite. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. i. 413 By seynt crosse said syre Vwayne he is a stronge knyght. 1553 Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 206 Cause a masse to be song or sayde in the honoure of Saint Spirite. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. v. 58 By gis, and by S. Charity, Alacke, and fie for shame. 1631 Weever Anc. Funeral Mon. 722 The Altar..was that which was first built to Saint seruice. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4688/1 The Annual Procession..in Honour of the Saint Sudario [i.e. il Santo Sudario]. |
4. Attributive and possessive collocations of proper names with the prefix ‘Saint’ (
St.) in sense 1.
a. Many plants, animals, and other objects have been named after saints of the calendar. For these appellations see the saints' names in their alphabetical places or the
ns. qualified by them.
b. Many diseases have been named after saints that are supposed to ward them off or relieve them.
A long list of these is given in Dunglison's
Dict. Med. Sci. and
Syd. Soc. Lex. For
St. Anthony's,
St. Francis's fire, see
fire n. 12.
St. Vitus' dance: see
dance n. 6 d.
c. Many objects are called after a place-name or a surname beginning with ‘Saint’ (‘
St.’); the following are some of the more important.
St. Augustine grass, a coarse grass,
Stenotaphrum secundatum, native to the southeastern United States and central America and named after a town in Florida;
St. Bees Sandstone, a pebbly sandstone occurring in thick beds in northwest England, formerly regarded as Upper Permian but now as Lower Triassic;
St. Bernard (dog), in full
Great St. Bernard dog, a dog of a breed kept by the monks of the Hospice of the Great
St. Bernard (a dangerous pass in the alps between Switzerland and Italy) for the rescue of travellers in distress;
St. Bernard('s) lily, a perennial herb,
Anthericum liliago, belonging to the family Liliaceæ and bearing racemes of white flowers;
St. Brigid('s) anemone, a plant belonging to a garden race of
Anemone coronaria, bearing single or double red or blue flowers;
St. Bruno's lily, a rhizomatous perennial herb,
Paradisea liliastrum, which resembles
St. Bernard's lily but has larger flowers (
cf. lily 1 b);
St. Dabeoc's heath, an Irish heath,
Dabœcia cantabrica or one of its varieties, belonging to the family Ericaceæ and bearing white, pink, or purple flowers;
St. Domingo cuckoo, etc., species of cuckoo, etc., found in San Domingo;
St. Domingo fever, yellow fever;
St. George's mushroom, a creamy-white, flattened mushroom,
Tricholoma gambosum;
St. Germain pear, a fine dessert pear;
St. Gobain glass, a fine kind of plate glass manufactured at
St. Gobain in France;
St. Helena tea (see
quots.);
St. Johnston's riband,
tippet,
Sc., a halter or hangman's rope; (
St. Johnston = Perth);
St. Kilda cold (see
quot.);
St. Kilda (field, house) mouse, a variety of the long-tailed field mouse,
Apodemus sylvaticus hirtensis, or the house mouse,
Mus musculus muralis;
St. Kilda wren, a local variety of the wren,
Troglodytes troglodytes hirtensis, with paler plumage;
St. Leger, the name of a horse-race for three-year-olds run at Doncaster: instituted by Colonel
St. Leger in 1776;
St. Louis encephalitis [
St. Louis, city of Missouri,
U.S.], a severe viral encephalitis transmitted by mosquitos;
St. Louis group, a section of the mountain limestone of North America, well developed in states bordering on the upper Mississippi;
St. Lucia (Lucie) bark, the bark of the West Indian shrub
Exostemma floribundum, used in tanning;
St. Michael's, the name of one of the Azores, which produced a fine quality of orange;
† St. Omer's (corruptly
St. Thomas)
worsted, a kind of worsted manufactured at
St. Omer's;
St. Patrick's cabbage (see
cabbage n.1 2).
| 1905 W. J. Spillman Farm Grasses U.S. xiii. 196 *St. Augustine grass occurs along the Atlantic coast from Charleston, S.C., southward. 1968 F. W. Gould Grass Systematics v. 203 St. Augustine grass is relatively coarse. |
| [1836 Trans. Geol. Soc. IV. 398 The red sandstone of St. Bees Head is unquestionably the exact equivalent of the upper red sandstone of that series.] 1865 E. W. Binney in Mem. Lit. & Philos. Soc. Manchester II. 373 Fine⁓grained red sandstone, laminated and ripple-marked, same as that seen at Moat,..Maryport, and other places, which may be conveniently called *St. Bees sandstone. 1946 L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. & Scenery xxii. 224 The St. Bees Sandstone,..of New Red Sandstone age, forms the red cliffs of St. Bees Head. 1969 Bennison & Wright Geol. Hist. Brit. Isles xi. 265 In this case the base of the St. Bees Sandstone, of Bunter age, may also be diachronous. |
| 1839 Sir T. D. Lauder in C. H. Smith Dogs (1840) II. 142 My *St. Bernard dog, Bass. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 327/2 The Great St. Bernard Dog of the present day is a powerful animal, as large as a mastiff. 1884 Harper's Mag. Aug. 464/1 A big St. Bernard. |
| 1883 W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden 26/2 The *St. Bernard's Lily..grows from 1 foot to 2 feet high, producing single, sometimes branched flower-spikes. 1900 W. D. Drury Bk. Gardening x. 315 The St. Bruno and St. Bernard Lilies..are fast becoming popular. 1964 H. Ramsbotham tr. Schauenberg's Bulb Bk. iii. 106 St. Bernard's Lily..is a common plant in Alpine meadows. |
| [1894 Jrnl. R. Hort. Soc. XVII. p. liv, Award of Merit. To Anenome St. Brigid's strain..from Earl Cowper, Panshanger, Hertford ([gardener] Mr. Fitt).] 1902 Ibid. XXVII. p. lxxxvi. Award of Merit. To the Alderborough strain of *St. Brigid Anemones. 1939 W. Fortescue There's Rosemary lxxix. 408 We had the joy..of seeing his beautiful frail hands caress the petals of flaming St Brigid Anemones and slender tulips which bordered the drive of the Domaine. 1971 Country Life 2 Sept. 543/3 St. Brigid's anemones. Sown in April, they flower from August. |
| 1795 Curtis's Bot. Mag. IX. 318 (heading) Savoy Anthericum, or *St. Bruno's Lily. 1883 W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden ii. 26/2 The major variety of the St. Bruno's Lily has much larger flowers than the type. 1964 H. Ramsbotham tr. Schauenberg's Bulb Bk. iii. 204 The English name of this lovely Alpine plant [sc. St. Bernard's Lily] is ‘St. Bruno's Lily’. |
| 1863 R. C. A. Prior On Pop. Names Brit. Plants 195 *St. Dabeoc's Heath, from an Irish saint of that name, a species found in Ireland. 1978 P. Rowe-Dutton tr. van de Laar's Heather Garden 130 St. Dabeoc's Heath. A low, evergreen Irish native with broad fresh green leaves, silvery beneath. |
| 1782 Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. ii. 541 *St. Domingo Cuckow. Ibid. i. 111 St. Domingo Falcon. 1793 Smellie tr. Buffon's Nat. Hist. Birds VIII. 231 The St. Domingo Chesnut..Colymbus Dominicus, Linn. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 644 From the depredations it has committed in the West Indies and on the American Coast, it has been called the *St. Domingo..fever. |
| 1891 M. C. Cooke Brit. Edible Fungi iv. 34 ‘*St. George's mushroom’..makes its appearance about the time of St. George's Day. 1966 Oxf. Bk. Flowerless Plants 134/2 ‘St. George's Mushroom’..grows in undergrowth on the edges of woods..and in open grassland. |
| 1693 Evelyn De La Quint. Compl. Gard. I. 93 This *St. Germain-pear, otherwise called the Unknown Pear of the Fare, has a very tender Pulp. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. iv. (1859) 77 Milton was a Saint-Germain with a graft of the roseate Early-Catherine... Russet-skinned old Chaucer was an Easter-Beurré. |
| 1870 Sauzay Marvels of Glass-making 91 note, According to M. Péligot the *St. Gobain glass is composed of, Silica 73·0, Lime 15·5, Soda 11·5. |
| 1875 Melliss St. Helena 239 Frankenia portulacæfolia, Spreng... Beatsonia portulacæfolia, Roxb.; *St. Helena Tea... I find no record of the plant having been ever used as a substitute for tea. 1897 Syd. Soc. Lex., St. Helena tea, a kind of tea made in the island of St. Helena by infusing the leaves of the plant Beatsonia portulacifolia. |
| 1638 H. Adamson Muse's Threnodie (1774) 119 Hence of *St. Johnston's ribband came the word. 1816 Scott Old Mort. vii, To be sent to Heaven wi' a Saint Johnstone's tippit about my hause. |
| 1897 Syd. Soc. Lex., *St. Kilda cold... A variety of Influenza occurring in the Hebrides, believed to be brought by strangers from ships touching at the islands. |
| 1899 G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton in Proc. Zool. Soc. 78, I have now before me..a fine adult pair..of the *St. Kilda Mouse. 1913 ― Hist. Brit. Mammals II. 540 (heading) The St Kilda Field Mouse. Ibid. 661 (heading) The St Kilda House Mouse. 1960 M. Burton Wild Animals Brit. Isles 78 St. Kilda field mouse..with brown under parts. Ibid. 88 Since the human inhabitants left the island in 1930, the St. Kilda mouse has become extinct. 1976 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 7 Mar. 3/3 The St. Kilda house mouse has become extinct. Ibid., The St. Kilda field mouse is also larger. |
| 1884 H. Seebohm in Zoologist VIII. 333 Those ornithologists who regard the climatic races of this bird as distinct species, will probably come to the conclusion that the *St. Kilda Wren is one of the most distinct. 1914 [see wren 1 b]. 1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Revolution ix. 96 The St. Kilda wren..was for some time classified as a separate species. 1976 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 7 Mar. 3/3 The St. Kilda wren is unique. |
| 1778 in Baily's Racing Reg. (1845) I. 470/1 *St. Leger's Stakes of 25 gs. each. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy (1907) I. 327 This is the settling day for all bets made upon the great Doncaster St. Leger. 1847 Thackeray Van. Fair (1848) xxxiv. 302 He and his father fell to talking about odds on the *St. Leger. 1930 Daily Express 11 Sept. 9/5 The St. Leger was run in almost ideal conditions. 1977 Times 10 Sept. 22/1 Thirteen runners have finally stood their ground for this year's St Leger..at Doncaster this afternoon. |
| [1933 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 9 Sept. 860/2 (heading) The St. Louis encephalitis epidemic.] 1934 Ibid. 18 Aug. 462/2 The virus of *St. Louis encephalitis had an almost exclusively neurotropic activity. 1962 Gordon & Lavoipierre Entomol. xix. 130 As regards western equine encephalomyelitis and St. Louis encephalitis..the important vector appears to be Culex tarsalis. 1977 Jrnl. Virol. XXII. 608 The antigenic determinants of St. Louis encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, and dengue virus envelope and nucleocapsid proteins were examined by solid-phase competition radioimmunoassay. |
| 1863 Dana Man. Geol. 307 The *St. Louis limestone (250 feet thick), overlaid by ferruginous sandstone (200 feet). 1879 Encyl. Brit. X. 350/2 St. Louis group.—Limestones with shale, in places 250 feet. |
| 1840 Pereira Elem. Mat. Med. ii. 992 *St. Lucia Bark. 1852 C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 94 St. Lucia Bark..is said to be suitable for tanning. c 1830 *St. Michael's oranges [see orange n.1 1]. 1892 Daily News 22 Dec. 3/1 It may be that some day sweet St. Michaels may pour in upon us again. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 269/1 *Seynt Homer's worstedde, demy ostade. 1552 Inv. Church Goods (Surtees) II. 61 A cope of read Saint Thomas worsted. |
| 1851 C. A. Johns Flowers of Field I. 240 S[axifraga] umbrosa (London Pride or *St. Patrick's Cabbage). 1976 Church Times 14 May 14/5 Other flowers with religious or curious folk⁓names are ‘Yellow Archangel’..; ‘St. Patrick's Cabbage’ (one of the saxifrages); [etc.]. |
‖ d. Similarly found in various place- or personal names of French origin, as
St. Cloud (
sɛ̃klu), used
attrib. to designate porcelain or faïence made at
St. Cloud, Seine-et-Oise, in the late-seventeenth and eighteenth centuries;
St. Emilion (
sɛ̃temiljɔ̃), the name applied to various wines produced in the region of
St. Emilion, Gironde, in south-west France;
St. Galmier (
galmje), an effervescent natural mineral water from
St. Galmier, Loire, in central France;
St. Honoré (
ɔnɔre) (see
quot. 1964);
usu. attrib., as
gâteau St. Honoré;
St. Paulin (
polɛ̃), a kind of cheese (see
quots.);
St. Porchaire (
pɔrʃɛr), used
attrib. to designate a kind of earthenware made at Saint-Porchaire, Deux-Sèvres, France, in the sixteenth century;
St. Raphael (wine) (
rafajɛl), an aperitif wine from
St. Raphael, Var, in France.
| [1699 M. Lister Journey to Paris 138, I saw the Potterie of St. Clou with which I was marvellously well pleased.] 1721 M. W. Montagu Let. June (1966) II. 6 If you have not allready laid out that small Summ in St. Cloud ware, I had rather have it in plain Lutestring. 1870 C. Schreiber Jrnl. 17 Feb. (1911) I. 71 We found an exquisite pâte tendre St. Cloud group. 1978 Times 4 Mar. 10/7 The Garrick Club have..Thomas King's cane with a fine St Cloud porcelain handle. |
| 1833 C. Redding Hist. Mod. Wines v. 142 St. Emilion has plenty of body, and superior flavour. 1981 P. Fox Satan's Messenger ii. xviii. 133 You don't serve a Château Lafite to two hundred people... The St. Emilion would be perfectly adequate. |
| 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 436/1 Classes I. and II. of alkaline waters..are very abundant on the Continent, and..some of the best-known ones enumerated below are..French..St. Galmier, Pougues, Chateldon. 1912 Beerbohm Seven Men (1919) 114 ‘Apollinaris? St. Galmier? Or what?’ I asked. He preferred plain water. |
| 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 55/2 Iced & Fancy Cakes... Gâteaux St. Honore..each 1/5. 1964 A. Launay Caviare & After 143 Saint Honoré, a rich, round pastry filled with cream and topped with crystallized fruits. 1968 V. Canning Melting Man v. 120 He..came back with a concoction that made me feel I would never want to eat again... ‘It is a Saint-Honoré. He was, you know, once Bishop of Amiens and is the patron saint of pastry-cooks. 1968 D. Hopkinson Incense-Tree i. 6 Her dinner parties were graced with..Gâteau St Honoré. |
| 1956 A. L. Simon Cheeses of World 73 Saint-Paulin is a semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk... The Trappists of..Tamié..used to sell their cheese as St. Paulin, but it is now sold as Fromage de Tamié. 1958 Catal. County Stores, Taunton June 9 Cheese..St. Paulin—each 5/6. 1971 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 28 Mar. 34/3 Saint-Paulin, resembles Port Salut in texture, taste and origins. First made in a Norman monastery, it is a rich yellow whole cow's milk cheese, at once soft and firm to the touch and very mildly ripe to taste. |
| [1899 P. Glazier Man. Hist. Ornament 81 Henri-deux, or S{supt} Porchards ware, now more properly described as Oiron ware, originated at S{supt} Porchard in 1524.] 1925 E. Hannover Pott. & Porc. III. i. 15 Specimens of the ‘Henri II’ (St. Porchaire) ware, which is also extremely rare, have repeatedly been offered for sale..in our own days. 1960 [see Henri Deux]. 1975 Times 20 May 16/4 One of the greatest rareties in..European ceramics, a St. Porchaire ewer, is to be offered for sale... St. Porchaire wares were made between about 1525 and 1565 and only 60 pieces have survived... St. Porchaire ware, also known as faience de Henri II..was rediscovered by the public, like Palissy ware, as a result of the 1862 ‘Special Exhibition of Works of Art’ at the South Kensington Museum. |
| 1899 Hardy Let. 23 Aug. in One Rare Fair Woman (1972) 83, I have taken one bottle of St Raphael wine—and it has picked me up. 1951 [see Lillet]. 1971 Guardian 3 June 9/4 St. Raphael and Dubonnet are the sweetest [aperitifs]. 1980 E. Leather Duveen Let. xii. 138 Glasses of St Raphael and Vichy water were ordered. |
B. n. A holy person.
1. One of the blessed dead in Heaven. Usually
pl.| [a 1000 Cædmon's Satan 355 Þær habbað englas eadiᵹne dream, sanctas singað.] |
| 13.. Cursor M. 10402 (Gött) Felauschip..Of saintes [Cott. halus] hye in heuen bliss. 138. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 467 A thowsand þowsandis bene moo seintis in heven þen we kanonysen in þo kalender. c 1420 Prymer (1895) 7 (Te Deum) Make hem to be rewardid wiþ seyntis in endeles blis. 1592 Arden of Feversham i. i. 329 To liue With God and his elected saints in heauen. 1657 Jer. Taylor Funeral Serm. Sir G. Dalstone, The consummation and perfection of the saints' felicity shall be at the resurrection of the dead. 1781 Cowper Truth 150 She, half an angel in her own account, Doubts not hereafter with the saints to mount. 1851 G. Rorison Hymn, ‘Three in One’, With the Saints here⁓after we Hope to bear the palm. 1864 Bp. W. How Hymn, For all Thy Saints who from their labours rest. 1875 Manning Mission Holy Ghost vii. 191 A multitude who have not been canonised on earth, though they are saints in heaven. |
2. a. Eccl. One of those persons who are formally recognized by the Church as having by their exceptional holiness of life attained an exalted station in heaven, and as being entitled in an eminent degree to the veneration of the faithful; a canonized person. In Pre-Reformation use, the term implies that the persons so designated may be lawfully addressed in prayer for their intercession with God, and that miracles have been wrought through their aid after death. Also, a monk or anchorite,
esp. in
phr. (is)land of saints, Ireland.
† to seek, visit a saint: to pay one's devotions at his shrine. (
Cf. hallow n.1 2.)
| [c 1000 ælfric in Sweet A.-S. Reader (1894) 85 God ᵹeswutelode þæt he haliᵹ sanct wæs swa þæt heofonlic leoht of þæt ᵹeteld astreht stod up to heofonum. c 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud. MS.) an. 979, He wæs on life eorðlic cing, he is nu æfter deaðe heofonlic sanct.] |
| a 1300 Cursor M. 28604 To godd i merci cri..And all seyntes of heuen sere. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xxxiv. 96 Preye we alle to oure levedy, Ant to the sontes that woneth hire by. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 69 (118) In a cave To bidde, and rede on holy seyntes lyves. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xvii, I salle garre seke sayntes for thi sake. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 6287 For seyntys wych that suffrede so, I wot ryht wel that they be go To paradys. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxv. 65 We pray to all the Sanctis of hevin, That ar aboif the sterris sevin. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 206 This præsent Kalendar quhairin is comprehendit the Sanctes and martyres vith the tyme of thair death or suffering. 1614 Bp. Hall No Peace with Rome §21 Neither will we only glorifie God in his Saints..but wee will magnifie the Saints..for their excellent graces. 1726 Boys Expos. 39 Art. 146 Pardons or Indulgences, which are promis'd to those that visit such a Saint or Chapel. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 44 The castle of St. Elmo, or St. Eramo, so called from a church dedicated to that saint. 1847 J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. xii. 134 A considerable number of churches are called after the names of the primitive saints of our island. 1862 Burton Bk. Hunter iv. 323 Technically, to make a saint, there should be an act of pontifical jurisdiction. 1888 Chesterton Ballad of White Horse v. 102 His men were all as thin as saints. Ibid. 103 Though Ireland be but a land of saints, and Wales a land of thieves. 1904 C. Walsh in J. McCarthy Irish Lit. I. p. xvii, Her nationality and her national spirit have been recognized during the last twenty years as they never were since the days when Ireland was the ‘island of saints and scholars’, the land of intellectual light and leading in Europe. 1938 W. B. Yeats New Poems 13 My father upon the Abbey stage, before him a raging crowd. ‘This Land of Saints’ and then..‘Of plaster Saints’. 1964 Welsh Hist. Rev. II. 122 The migrations of the ‘saints’ from Britain can be dated almost exclusively to the sixth century. Ibid. 123 We can picture these early British ‘saints’ (monks) seeking solitary places at home and abroad in which to serve God. 1979 Guardian 1 Oct. 2/8 It was the Pope's arrival at Dublin Airport..which truly set the distinctive character of this personal pilgrimage to his ‘island of saints’. |
| Proverb. 1550 Bale Eng. Votaries ii. 105 b, These adages myght than haue bene founde true, suche saynt, suche shryn, suche bere, suche bottell. |
b. A representation or image of a saint.
| 1563 Homilies ii. Agst. Images iii. Q q iij, Such a creple came and saluted this saint of Oke. 1679 Roxb. Ball. (1885) V. 594 And who, to furnish his own want, Can seize Gold Cross, or Silver Saint. 1817 Lady Morgan France i. (1818) I. 92 Fruit in wax-work, and saints in or moulu. 1849 James Woodman xv, Far readier to worship a gold angel than a painted saint. 1893 Bates Eng. Relig. Drama 27 As if the chiselled, painted saint himself..stepped down..from marble niche. |
c. transf. Applied
e.g. to persons who are the objects of posthumous reverence in non-Christian religions.
† Also
rarely to heathen deities, etc.
| 13.. K. Alis. 6763 Thou schalt fynde trowes two: Seyntes and holy they buth bo. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2000 All the buernes in the bote,..Besoght vnto sainttes & to sere goddes. Ibid. 12071 Þe sayntis of hell Were wode in hor werkis for wreke of Achilles. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 4 Others..are punished by the saints whom they adore, and the holy ceremonies which they obserue. 1626 Methold in Purchas Pilgrimage 999 One Saint they haue..whom they expresse by a plaine round stone. 1876 A. J. Evans Through Bosnia viii. 342 There are many gay kiosques rising over the graves of Moslem saints. |
3. a. In biblical use, one of God's chosen people; in the New Testament, one of the elect under the New Covenant; a member of the Christian church; a Christian. Hence used by some religious bodies as their own designation,
e.g. by some puritanical sects in the 16–17th c., the Mormons (see
latter-day), and the Plymouth Brethren.
| 1382 Wylcif 1 Cor. i. 2 To the halowid in Crist Ihesu, clepid seyntis. 1526 Tindale Acts ix. 32 As Peter walked throughoute all quarters, he cam to the saincts which dwelt at lydda. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 103 God, for thy grace,..Ceis not to send thy Sanctis sune support. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lvi. 123 The fellowship of his Saincts in this present world. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. v, A seruant of the exil'd Brethren, That deale with widdowes and with orphanes goods And make a iust account vnto the Saints: A Deacon. 1626 ― Staple of N. iii. ii. 125 Ha' you in your prophane Shop, any Newes O'the Saints at Amsterdam? 1658 Cowley Cutter Colman St. iii. i, What preaching, and houling, and fasting, and eating among the Saints! 1704 Nelson Fest. & Fasts xxxiv. (1739) 419 In the beginning of Christianity, the word Saint was applied to all Believers. 1710 [H. Bedford] Vind. Ch. Eng. 170 We seem to have forgot the Saints Reign from 41 to 60. 1782 C. Simeon in Carus Life (1847) 28 Now he scruples keeping a horse, that the money may help the saints of Christ. 1786 Burns Sc. Drink viii, Godly meetings o' the saunts, By thee inspir'd. 1838 G. V. Wigram Let. in T. S. Veitch Story of Brethren Movement (1933) iv. 59 The question I refer to is ‘How are the meetings for communion of Saints in these parts to be regulated?’ 1847 J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. iii. 31 It is not..improbable..that St. Paul should have become acquainted with some of these captives, by means of some of the Saints in Cæsar's household. 1863 Dickens Uncomm. Trav. xx, The Preface, dated Manchester, 1840, ran thus:—‘The Saints in this country have been very desirous for a Hymn Book adapted to their faith and worship’. 1866 H. Groves Darbyism ii. 25 God so ordered it, that the anathemas which had divided the assemblies in Plymouth, should fall upon the saints assembling at Bethesda in Bristol. 1886 Whitaker's Alm. 204 Religious Sects...Saints. 1907 E. Gosse Father & Son iii. 72 She now had the care of a practised woman, one of the ‘saints’ from the Chapel. 1978 Times Lit. Suppl. 26 May 573/1 Critical intelligence and the world of the Plymouth Brethren proved..incompatible: growing up meant leaving the Saints. |
b. In biblical use applied to angels.
| 1382 Wyclif Deut. xxxiii. 2 The Lord..aperide fro the hil of Pharan, and with hym thousandis of seyntis. 1611 Bible Jude 14 The Lord commeth with ten thousands of his Saints. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 46 Gabriel..lead forth my armied Saints. |
4. a. A person of extraordinary holiness of life. Sometimes ironically, A person making an outward profession of piety. Also in
colloq. use, an extremely good or long-suffering person.
| 1563 Foxe A. & M. 1258/2 Boner. Well mayster Countroller, I am no sainct. Ibid. 1374/2 Surely you would moue a Saint with your impertinent reasons. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 28 For such an iniurie would vexe a very saint. 1625 Bacon Ess., Suspicion, What would Men haue? Doe they thinke, those they employ and deale with, are Saints? 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin ii. v. 99 We have read of Canniballs that devour the flesh of Men. Tush! They are Saints to Papists. For, They devour their God! 1732 Pope Ep. Cobham 246 Odious! in woollen! 'twould a Saint provoke. 1749 Chesterfield Lett. ccix. (1792) II. 301, I have sometimes known Saints really religious. 1852 Thackeray Esmond III. iii. 92 ‘O how good she is, Harry,’ Beatrix went on to say, ‘O what a saint she is!’ 1884 Harper's Mag. Jan. 296/1 Were you a saint at college? 1884 H. A. Jones (title) Saints and Sinners. a 1887 H. W. Beecher Prov. Plymouth Pulpit 178 It will not do to be saints at meeting and sinners everywhere else. 1978 R. Barnard Unruly Son xvii. 186 My mother..always thought about me. She was a saint. |
b. Proverb.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlvi. 35 Of ȝung sanctis growis auld feyndis but fable. 1552 Latimer 7th Serm. on Lord's Prayer (1562) H 4 b, The old prouerb yong saints, old deuils. 1616 S. Price Ephesus Warning 73 That Prouerb inuented by the Diuell that young Saints proue old Diuels. 1655 Fuller Serm. iv. 4 David began to be good betimes, a young Saint, and yet crossed that pestilent Proverb, was no old devill. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. lxiv. 254. |
5. A nickname for:
a. A member of a religious association at Cambridge (see
quots.). Now
Hist.| 1793 Acc. Proc. agst. W. Frend 107, I shewed them [sc. two letters] to some of my friends, as instances of the gratitude of the saints. 1803 Gradus ad Cantabr. 116 Saints, a set of men who have great pretensions to particular sanctity of manners and zeal for orthodoxy. 1882 Mrs. Oliphant Lit. Hist. Eng. III. 38 [Dean Milner] was at the head of the party vulgarly called the Saints, the preachers of world-renunciation and self-denial. Another leader of this party..was Charles Simeon. |
b. One of the party which promoted the agitation in England against slavery. Now
Hist.| 1830 N. S. Wheaton Jrnl. 281 The friends of negro emancipation..are already (1823–4) honoured with the nickname of ‘Saints’. 1832 Marryat N. Forster xv, ‘But do you think that this is likely to occur?’ ‘I do, most certainly, if those who govern continue to listen to the insidious advice of the party denominated ‘Saints’. 1880 S. Walpole Hist. Eng. III. xiii. 196 The West Indians were furious with Stanley for doing so much; the ‘Saints’ were annoyed with him for doing so little. |
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
saint-author,
saint-martyr,
saint-protectrice;
saint-beseeming,
saint-eyed,
saint-faced,
saint-holy,
saint-pleasing,
saint-seeming adjs.;
saint-maker,
saint-making,
saint server,
saint-worship,
saint worshipper;
saint's day, (
a) a day set apart by the Church for observing the memory of a saint; (
b)
= name-day 1;
† saint's head stone, a name for a kind of limestone.
| 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. 165 A *saint-author of all men least values politeness. |
| 1650 Baxter Saints' R. i. iv. §5. 29 That *Saint-beseeming work. |
| 1778 Epit. in Stretton Church Yard in Bye-Gones 18 July (1894) 376 Go *saint-eyed patience from affliction's door. |
| 1829 H. Hawthorn Visit Babylon 61 Some usurious and *saint-faced Quakers. |
| a 1617 Bayne On Eph. (1658) 7 Such beleevers..who will not be accounted *Saint-holy. |
| 1604 Hieron Answ. to Popish Ryme B 2, Who made the Pope a *Saint⁓maker? 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 19 A man who was called the saint-maker..married five shrews in succession, and made Grizels of every one of them. |
| 1802 Ranken Hist. France II. ii. §2. 186 The church of Rome, desirous of engrossing this power of *saint-making. |
| 1826 W. E. Andrews Exam. Fox's Cal. Prot. Saints 473 Fox being in want of a *saint-martyr, thought proper to canonize a self-destroyer. |
| 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. B 7 b, Thy sweete *saint-pleasing songs forgotten. |
| 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. 273 The ladys..were the *saint-protectrices to whom the champions chiefly paid their vows. |
| a 1450 Myrc Festial 267 Þogh we halowen but few *sayntes⁓dayes, ȝet we ben full neclygent yn oure seruyce. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 473, I cannot find..that we can trace what we call the Saints'-Days higher than the eighth or ninth Century. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xxi, Eliza was gone to attend a saint's-day service at the New Church. 1863 Hawthorne Our Old Home II. 100 On a Sunday or Saint's day. 1943 E. M. Almedingen Frossia iii. 149 It is my saint's day, we have guests coming. 1980 ‘J. Le Carré’ Smiley's People xxiii. 272 Felicity had called her in..to have Russian company on her saint's day. |
| a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 395 Their *saint⁓seeming sanctity. |
| 1563 J. Man Musculus' Commonpl. 293 As the *Sainct seruers [L. cultores diuorum] doe in our dayes. |
| 1763 Museum Rust. I. lxxxv. 379 There is frequently found in the clay very hard lyas, or *saints-head stones. |
| 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. E 7, Acton did march in *Saint-triumphing showes. |
| 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles iii. 173 The imputation of *Saint-worship. 1775 Adair Amer. Ind. 207 The popish saint-worship. 1882–3 Schaff's Encycl. Relig. Knowl. III. 2098 The abuses of saint-worship. |
| 1615 Byfield Expos. Col. i. 19 (1628) 127 Sancti-colists, Pharises and *Saint-worshippers. 1648 Gage West Ind. 174 All that were there present, as well Saint-worshippers, as indeed that Idols worshippers. |
Add:
[A.] [4.] [d.] St. Louis (
lwi), used
attrib. to designate a kind of crystal glass manufactured at the
St. Louis glass-house in the Munzthal, Lorraine, from the mid-eighteenth century; also
absol., an article (
esp. a paperweight) manufactured there.
| 1969 P. O'Donnell Taste for Death ii. 29 His eye fell on the glass paperweights..‘That's a St. Louis... The other two are Baccarat and Clichy-la-Garenne.’ 1973 Times 17 Apr. 18/4 A St Louis green overlay relief lizard weight made {pstlg}4,800. There was also a very rare St Louis aventurine ground weight at {pstlg}2,400. 1979 N. & I. Lyons Champagne Blues 11 The crystal pendants on the Saint-Louis chandelier. |
St(e).-Maure (
sɛ̃tmɔr), a cylindrically-shaped cheese made from goat's milk, named after the village in the Touraine where it is chiefly produced.
| 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 489/1 [Goats' milk] is widely used for making cheeses, for example, Saint Maure. 1961 List of French Cheeses (Harrods) Sept., Sainte-Maure, the most widely produced goat's milk cheese of the Touraine. It has quite a mild flavour, and, when the rind is blueish in colour, it indicates that the cheese is of the highest quality. 1982 D. Smith Compl. Cookery Course 462 Saint-Maure..is cylindrical, firm to the touch and full-flavoured. |
[B.] [5.] c. ellipt. for *Helenian
n.| 1983 Times 19 Mar. 8/6 To the traveller, St Helena presents an idyllic prospect..but this lonely little colony of 5,500 souls faces a bleak future... The Saints, though not a resentful people, compare their lot with that of the Falkland Islanders. 1985 Observer 16 June 17/1 ‘I'm a Saint,’ he said. ‘Not, I mean, that I'm saintly, of course.’ He laughed. ‘But from St Helena Island. That's what people from there are called.’ |
▪ II. saint, v. (
seɪnt)
Forms: see
saint n.; also 3
pa. pple. isonted.
[f. saint n.] 1. pass. To be or become a saint in Heaven.
Obs. or
arch.| a 1225 Ancr. R. 350 Þeo pilegrimes þet goð touward heouene, heo goð forte beon isonted. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. iv. 34, I hold you as a thing en-skied, and sainted. 1854 Longfellow Birds of Passage, Prometheus iv, Only those are crowned and sainted Who with grief have been acquainted. |
2. a. trans. To call (a person) a saint, give the name of ‘saint’ to; to reckon among the saints;
spec. to enroll among the number of saints formally recognized by the Church; to canonize.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 875 This thomas, That on this vis maid martir was, Wes sanctit and myraclis did. 1553 Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 180 He [sc. Pope John XXII] sainted also Thomas of Aquine the blackefrier. 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. F 3, He praisd, adornd, and for a martyr sainted, Whilst I (Rome's scoffe) my rites of buriall wanted. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxiv. 960 There other holy Kings were likewise, who confess'd, Which those most zealous times have sainted. 1628 Earle Microcosm., Shee Hypocrite (Arb.) 63 Shee doubts of the Virgin Marie's Saluation, and dare not Saint her. 1690 Norris Beatitudes (1692) 135 The most generous and brave Spirits, those whom Paganism has Deify'd, and Christianity has Sainted. 1705 Addison Italy, Sienna 391 A Shooe-Maker that has been Beatify'd, tho' never Sainted. 1830 Coleridge Table-t. 4 June, [Jeremy] Taylor..saints every trumpery monk and friar, down to the very latest canonizations by modern popes. 1842 Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 152 They shout, ‘Behold a saint!’ And lower voices saint me from above. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 19 June 5/1 The sandy shores of River Nid, where Holy Olaf's bones were laid to rest before he had been sainted. |
† b. fig. (Also
absol.)
Obs.| 1597 Bp. Hall Sat. i. vii, Sure will he saint her in his Calendere. a 1625 Fletcher Hum. Lieut. iii. iii, If fortune dare play the Slut againe, I'll never more Saint her. 1632 Brome Novella iv. i, Lovers shall saint thee; and this day shall be For ever callenderd to Love and thee. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 1481 Alfred..whose hallow'd name the virtues saint. 1728 Pope Dunc. ii. 357 Prompt or to guard or stab, to saint or damn. a 1910 ‘Mark Twain’ in C. B. Taylor Margins on Thackeray's ‘Swift’ (1935) 47 It would have been enough merely to have forgiven Swift in this paragraph—not sainted him. |
3. To cause to be regarded, or to appear, as a saint; to represent as a saint.
rare.
| 1609 Daniel Civ. Wars i. liii, And in the vnconceiuing vulgar sort, Such an impression of his goodnes gaue As Sainted him. 1649 Milton Eikon. Pref. B 3, Though the Picture sett in Front would Martyr him and Saint him to befoole the people. 1701 Baxter's Paraphr. N.T. Postscr., However holy Salvian excuse them, and the Life of Bobeline saint them, the generality of Christian Writers disown them. 1853 J. Hamilton Lives Bunyan, etc. 176 He fell upon a time when the Church of England contained many men whose genius and piety would have immortalized and sainted them in an earlier age. |
| absol. 1887 Browning Parleyings, B. de Mandeville ii, Brave sins which saint when shriven. |
† 4. a. To ascribe holy virtues or a sacred character to.
Obs.| 1652 French Yorksh. Spa xvii. 119 Whether this Well was Sainted from its real vertues, or onely supposed vertues. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. iv. §22 After-Ages..over-acted their part in shrining, sainting and adoring his Relicks. 1657 Reeve God's Plea 90 It is an easie matter..to professe the Gospell, to Saint a fancied cause. |
b. To name (something) after a saint.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1706 E. Baynard Cold Baths in Floyer Hist. Cold Bathing ii. 319 A..Well, Sainted with the Name of Anne. |
5. intr. To act or live as a saint; to live a saintly life; to play the saint. In later use chiefly with
it.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiii. 209 Mak... I must haue reuerence; why, who be ich?.. Bot, mak, lyst ye saynt? I trow that ye lang. 1530 Palsgr. 697/1, I praye God I saynte than. 1571 Satir. Poems Reform. xxviii. 204 Nane I accuse, I come not heir to Sant. c 1585 Faire Em iii. 1280 Let Mistress nice go saint it where she list. 1599 Shakes., etc. Pass. Pilgr. 342 Thinke women still to striue with men, To sinne and neuer for to Saint. 1619 W. Sclater Exp. 1 Thess. (1630) 183 What need to Saint it in youth? time enough to repent in age. 1735 Pope Ep. Lady 15 Whether the Charmer sinner it, or saint it. 1737 Ramsay Prov. (1750) 76 Neither sae sinfu' as to sink, nor sae haly as to saunt. 1880 A. I. Ritchie Ch. Baldred 26 He sainted it and sinnered it in turns. |
▪ III. saint variant of
cent2,
seynt.