▪ I. sanctuary, n.1
(ˈsæŋktjuːərɪ)
Forms: 4–6 saint-, saynt-, seint-, seyntuary(e, -uarie, -(e)warie, -wary(e, (4 seyntiwarie, 5 sceyntewarye, seyntery); 4–6 sentuary(e, -uarie, -wary, (6 senttuary, centuary, sentory, centory, cent(e)ry); 6 santuary; 5–7 sainctuarie, -uary; 4–7 sanctuarye, 4– sanctuary.
[a. OF. sain(c)tuarie, sain(c)tuaire (whence the form saintuaire), mod.F. sanctuaire (= Pr. sanctuari, Cat. santuari, Sp., Pg., It. santuario), semi-pop. ad. L. sanctuārium, app. irreg. f. sanct-us holy (? on the analogy of sacrarium). The present form of the word, which is due to recourse to the original Latin, occurs almost as early as the forms taken from OF.
The Latin word is post-Augustan; in classical Latin (Pliny) it occurs only in the sense of ‘the private cabinet of a prince’ (L. & Sh.); the sense of ‘holy place’ is common in the Vulgate and in Christian Latin generally.]
I. A holy place.
1. a. gen. A building or place set apart for the worship of God or of one or more divinities: applied, e.g., to a Christian church, the Jewish temple and the Mosaic tabernacle, a heathen temple or site of local worship, and the like; also fig. to the church or body of believers.
| a 1340 Hampole Cant. Moysi 21 in Psalter (1884) 507 Þi sanctuary lord þe whilk þi hend festynd; lord sall regne wiþouten end and ouyre. In þat sanctuary oure lord sall be kynge, þat is in all sauyd men, wiþouten end. 1382 Wyclif Exod. xxv. 8 And thei shulen make to me a seyntuarye, and Y shal dwelle in the myddil of hem. 1508 Fisher Penit. Ps. cii. Wks. (1876) 198 Filij seruorum tuorum habitabunt. The children of thy seruauntes shall be permanent in thy sentuary. 1530 Tindale Prol. Exod., Sanctuarie, a place halowed and dedicate vnto god. 1535 Coverdale Tobit xiii. 11 The people shal come vnto the from farre, they shal bringe giftes, and worshipe y⊇ Lorde in the, and thy londe shal they haue for a Sanctuary, for they shal call vpon the greate name in the. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 171 Hauing waste ground enough, Shall we desire to raze the Sanctuary And pitch our euils there? 1671 Milton Samson 1674 Chaunting thir Idol, and preferring Before our living Dread who dwells In Silo his bright Sanctuary. a 1729 J. Rogers Serm. xvii. (1735) 371 Let it not be imagined, that they contribute nothing to the Happiness of the Countrey, who only serve God in the Duties of a holy Life; who attend his Sanctuary, and daily address his Goodness to pardon the Sins of the Land. 1830 Leake Trav. Morea II. 426 Strabo..describes the Epidaurian sanctuary as ‘a place renowned for the cure of all sorts of diseases’. 1863 H. B. Hackett in Smith's Dict. Bible III. 1278/1 Shiloh was one of the earliest and most sacred of the Hebrew sanctuaries. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxiii. 3 When he near'd the leafy forest, dark sanctuary divine [L. loca Deæ]. 1888 W. R. Smith in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 165/2 A temple implies a sanctuary; but a sanctuary or holy spot does not necessarily contain a temple. |
b. fig. Used for: The priestly office or order.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 25 In þis dede þat Crist dide, he techiþ his Chirche to bygynne for to purge his seintuarie, þat ben preests and clerks þerof. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xx. (1787) II. 217 But the Christian sanctuary was open to every ambitious candidate, who aspired to its heavenly promises, or temporal possessions. |
c. Applied to Heaven.
| 1382 Wyclif Deut. xxvi. 15 Bihold fro thi sanctuary, fro the hiȝe dwellynge place of heuens [Vulg. de sanctuario tuo]. 1535 Coverdale Ps. ci[i]. 19 For He loketh downe from his Sanctuary, out of the heauen doth the Lorde beholde the earth. a 1586 Sidney Ps. xx. ii, From santuary hy Let him come downe. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 672 Had not th' Almightie Father where he sits Shrin'd in his Sanctuarie of Heav'n secure, Consulting [etc.]. |
d. transf.
| 1445 in Anglia XXVIII. 261 Fides thyn herte enbracyth As hir propir sanctuary, and medelith with al thi deedys. 1584 Whetstone Mirrour for Mag. 23 The Dicing-houses and other lyke Sanctuaries of iniquitie. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 170 The famous isle of Iona was once the seat and sanctuary of western learning. 1821 Byron Two Foscari iv. i, Sen[ator]. I sought not A place within a sanctuary; but being Chosen..I shall fulfill my office. 1831 Brewster Newton x. 120 Admiring disciples crowded to this sanctuary of the sciences [sc. Tycho Brahe's observatory of Uranibourg] to acquire the knowledge of the heavens. 1870 Max Müller Sci. Relig. (1873) 142 Entirely expelled from the sanctuary of the human mind. |
e. to weigh (or examine) with the weights (or scales) of the sanctuary: to test by the standard of divine revelation. Also, to examine by an equal and just scale (see quot. 1728), after F. peser une chose au poids du sanctuaire, dans la balance du sanctuaire (Littré).
Suggested by Vulg. ad (or juxta) pondus sanctuarii, pondere sanctuarii Lev. v. 15, Num. vii. 13, 19, 25, 31, 37, xviii. 16. The force of the orig. Heb. expression would be more accurately rendered by ‘according to the sacred shekel’.
| 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 43 Setting humane experience aside, we will waigh this by the holy scales of the Sanctuarie. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., To..examine a Thing by the Weight of the Sanctuary, is to examine it by a just and equal Scale. |
2. A specially holy place within a temple or church. a. In the Mosaic tabernacle and the Jewish temple: the holy place, including the ‘Holy of holies’ (see holy n. 5); sometimes applied to the latter only.
† sanctuary (or sanctuaries) of the sanctuary: a literal rendering of the Vulg. sanctuarium (-aria) sanctuarii, which inaccurately represents the Heb. for ‘Holy of holies’.
| 1382 Wyclif Exod. xxvi. 33 The veyle forsothe be it sett yn bi cercles, with ynne the whiche thou shalt put the arke of testymonye, and with the which the seyntuarye, and the seyntuarye [v.r. sayntuarise] of the seyntuarie [Vulg. sanctuarii sanctuaria] shulen be dyuydid. a 1656 Ussher Power Princes i. (1683) 66 To be put in Tables of Brass, and to be set up within the compass of the Sanctuary in a conspicuous place. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Antiq. iii. vi. §4 It [the veil] was to be drawn this way or that way by cords, the rings of which..were subservient to the drawing and undrawing of the veil, and to the fastening it at the corner, that then it might be no hinderance to the view of the sanctuary, especially on solemn days. |
b. Eccl. That part of a church round the altar, the sacrarium; also used by some for the chancel.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 1567 (Dublin MS.), And of þe sanctuary [Ashm. MS. saynt-ware] mony seere þinges, With tabels & tapers & tretes of þe law. 1577 Hanmer tr. Eusebius' Eccl. Hist. x. iv. 189 margin, A space betwene the Sanctuary & the porche. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 307 Sacrarium..the sanctuarie or chauncell. 1708–22 J. Bingham Orig. Eccles. viii. vi. §11 Wks. 1726 I. 300 In the middle of the Bema, or Sanctuary. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. xlix. V. 97 That all the images should be removed from the sanctuary and altar to a proper height in the churches. 1870 F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 35 The sanctuary is raised one step. a 1878 Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) II. 40 The chancel, or rather the sanctuary, was apsidal, with a surrounding aisle. 1885 Cath. Dict. (ed. 3), Sanctuary, the part of the church round the high altar reserved for clergy. |
c. The most sacred part of any temple; the ‘cella’, ‘adytum’.
| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 3810 For þei cast no longer for to tarie, But prowdely entre in þe seintuarie, In-to þe chapel callid Cytheroun. Ibid. iv. xxx. (1513) S v b, With many flawme and many hydous lyght That brent enuyrowne in the seyntuarye [1555 sentuarye]. 1857 Wilkinson Egypt. Pharaohs 141 Within this sanctuary was the statue of the god, and the altar for sacrifice or for libation; and to it the priests alone had access. 1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 388/2 The sanctuary, adytum or σηκός (fig. 4), still contained the idol and its altar. |
d. fig.
| 1642 D. Rogers Naaman Ep. Ded. 2 We are come now beyond the Porch and Sanctuary, even to the Holy of Holies. 1686 [Hickes] Spec. B. Virg. 38 They pray to her..to admit them within the Sanctuary of her Audience. 1795 Burke Let. to W. Elliot Wks. 1842 II. 244 But now the veil was torn, and, to keep off sacrilegious intrusion, it was necessary that in the sanctuary of government some⁓thing should be disclosed not only venerable, but dreadful. 1815 Shelley Alastor 38 And, though ne'er yet Thou hast unveiled thy inmost sanctuary. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. I. 129 His writings..form only the portico to the temple of wisdom; but the singular beauty of the approach invites the student, and its ease of access secures his progress to the sanctuary beyond. |
† 3. A shrine or box containing relics. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 625 But by the croys which that seint Eleyne fond, I wolde I hadde thy coillons in myn hond In stede of relikes or of seintuarie. 1393 Lang. P. Pl. C. vi. 79 Popes and patrones poure gentil blod refuseþ, And taken symondes sone seyntewarie [v.r. sanctuarye] to kepe. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 18043 Thei did the relikes brynge,..Here saynteuarius with al her gere... Diomedes was ffurst that swore, And made his othe vpon the flore, He swor by al here sayntwaries. c 1450 Merlin iv. 75 Than the kynge made be brought the hiest seintewaries that he hadde, and the beste relikes, and ther-on they dide swere as Merlin dide hem devyse. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) II. 664 Than cam the day that the grekes shold swere the peas faynedly vpon the playn felde vpon the sayntuaryes. 1481 ― Godeffroy xxxvii. 205 They helde the crosse and the sainctuaryes with whiche they blessyd the peple. |
4. A piece of consecrated ground; the precincts of a church; a churchyard, cemetery. Now dial. (See also sanctuary garth in 8 below.)
There seems to have been some confusion between seintuary, centry, etc. (ME. forms of sanctuary) and cemetery.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) V. 65 [He] made a seyntuary [Trevisa chirchehawe, L. cœmeterium] in the cite of Rome, in the way callede Via Appia, to bery the bodies of martires. a 1450 Myrc Par. Pr. 330 Also wyth-ynne chyrche and seyntwary Do ryȝt thus as I the say. 1872 J. Glyde's Norfolk Garland i. 28 ‘If I were on any occasion to urge a parishioner to inter a deceased relative on the north side of the church, he would answer me with some expression of surprise,..{oqq}No, sir, it is not in the sanctuary.{cqq}’ |
II. 5. a. A church or other sacred place in which, by the law of the mediæval church, a fugitive from justice, or a debtor, was entitled to immunity from arrest. Hence, in wider sense, applied to any place in which by law or established custom a similar immunity is secured to fugitives.
By English common law, a fugitive charged with any offence but sacrilege and treason might escape punishment by taking refuge in a sanctuary, and within forty days confessing his crime and taking an oath which subjected him to perpetual banishment. By the act 21 Jac. I. c. 28 §7 (1625) the right of sanctuary in criminal cases was abolished. Certain places, chiefly actual or reputed precincts of former royal palaces, as Whitefriars, the Savoy, and the Mint, continued to be sanctuaries in civil cases until their privilege was abolished by the acts 8 & 9 Will. III. c. 27 §15 (1696–7) and 9 Geo. I. c. 28 (1722). The abbey of Holyrood is still by law a sanctuary for debtors, but the abolition of imprisonment for debt has rendered the privilege useless.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. iv. 10 (Camb. MS.) To whiche Iugement they nolden nat obeye but defendedyn hem by the sikernesse of holy howses, þat is to seyn fledden in to sentuarye. 1463–4 Rolls of Parlt. V. 507/2 Eny persone..that shall dwelle or inhabit within the Sayntwarie and Procyncte of the same Chapell. 1474 Ibid. VI. 110/1 Such persones as were endetted..and by fraude went to seyntuaries. 1477 Ibid. 183/2 Eny persone or persones havyng eny places of Tuitionez comonly called Seintwaries, as to eny Privilege, Libertee, Tuition or Fraunches. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccli. x 2 b, Also this same yere the shereuis of london fette oute of Seint Martins the graunt the sayntwarie fiue persones, whiche afterward were restored agayne to the Sayntwarie by the kynges Iustices. c 1500 in Arnolde's Chron. (1811) p. xxxix, Perkin Warbek..fled to Bewdeley sentwary [cf. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 25 He flede to Bewdley senttuary]. 1534 in Lett. Suppress. Monasteries (Camden) 39 Men sayd that the sayntuary shall, aftre this settyng of the parliament, hold no man for dett, morder, nor felenye. 1537 Orig. & Sprynge of Sectes H vij, The churches are a centuary for mysdoers. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. ix. 19 That all the while he by his side her bore, She was as safe as in a Sanctuary. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 811 Who..withdrew himselfe into a monastery hard by, which was counted a Sanctuary, and therefore not to be forced or broken. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 68 Just by the Communion table is the Sanctuary or place of refuge where Criminalls flee for safety. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xli, If thou breathest aught that can attaint the honour of my house, by Saint George! not the altar itself shall be a sanctuary. 1839 H. Ainsworth Jack Sheppard i. ii. 42 In order to guard against accidents or surprises, watchmen or scouts..were stationed at the three main outlets of the sanctuary [sc. the mint at Southwark] ready to give the signal in the manner just described. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola xxiv, The church was a sanctuary which he had a right to claim. |
b. Applied to a similar place of refuge in a non-Christian country; an asylum.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) vi. 66 That Cytee [Ebron] was also Sacerdotalle, that is to seyne, seyntuarie, of the Tribe of Juda: And it was so fre, that Men receyved there alle manere of Fugityfes of other places, for here evyl Dedis. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 353 He caus'd the Place where he was kill'd to be encompass'd with a high Wall, made a Sanctuary of it. c 1700 Tarquin & Tullia 10 in Poems Aff. St. (1704) III. 319 To form his Party, Histories report, A Sanctuary was open'd in his Court, Where glad Offenders safely might resort. 1878 P. Gardner in Encycl. Brit. VIII. 468/1 Besides being a place of worship, a museum, and a sanctuary, the Ephesian temple was a great bank. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa xx. 466 From the penalty and inconveniences of these accusations of witch⁓craft there is but one escape, namely flight to a sanctuary. There are several sanctuaries in Congo Fran{cced}ais. |
c. transf. and fig.
| 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 49 Vsing alwaise soch discrete moderation, as the scholehouse should be counted a sanctuarie against feare. 1685 Crowne Sir C. Nice v. 49 My house is your Sanctuary, and here to offer you violence, wou'd prejudice myself. 1776 Paine Com. Sense (1791) 34 The reformation was preceded by the discovery of America, as if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home should afford neither friendship nor safety. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Ability Wks. (Bohn) II. 41 They have made..London..a sanctuary to refugees of every political and religious opinion. 1861 Tulloch Eng. Purit. I. 38 His [Abbot's] house was a sanctuary to the most eminent of the factious party. |
d. An area of land within which (wild) animals or plants are protected and encouraged to breed or grow.
| 1879 A. P. Vivian Wanderings in Western Land xiii. 299 The suggestion..of setting apart certain districts as ‘sanctuaries’, within which the buffalo should never be molested, is one well worthy of consideration. 1887 [see bird sanctuary s.v. bird n. 9]. 1897 Cornh. Mag. Jan. 37 The national forests will become, as the New Forest is now in some measure, sanctuaries for all the animals feræ naturæ of England. 1909 Bull. N.Y. Zool. Soc. June 511/2 Around the coast there is gradually being extended a chain of insular bird sanctuaries that means much to the avifauna of North America. 1943 J. S. Huxley TVA 54 Game management areas and game refuges or sanctuaries have been set up. 1975 M. Russell Murder by Mile iii. 26 The glen's by way of being something of a bird and animal sanctuary. 1978 Country Life 16 Nov. 1632/1 Rare and vulnerable plants and animals will be protected by setting aside ‘sanctuaries’. |
6. a. Immunity from punishment and the ordinary operations of the law secured by taking refuge in a sanctuary (sense 5); the right or privilege of affording such shelter; shelter, refuge, protection as afforded by a church, etc. Also privilege of sanctuary. † to keep sanctuary: to resort to a sanctuary for protection. to violate sanctuary or break sanctuary: to violate the privilege or right of a sanctuary or place of refuge.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 294 Þei chalengen fraunchise and privylegie in many grete chirchis, þat wikid men..þere schullen dwelle in seyntewarie, and no man empeche hem bi processe of lawe. c 1380 ― Wks. (1880) 280 Þat þefte & raueynen & mansleyng & robberie be not meyntened in seyntiwarye vnder colour of priuylegie. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 167 He is like a fugitif that rennythe to seyntwarye For drede of hangyng. 1464 Coventry Leet Bk. 322 The parker & oþer Officers of Cheylesmore pretendyng..that eny persones owed not to be arrested there, seying that Cheylesmore was seyntwary. 1471 Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 15 The Erle of Oxenffordys bretheryn be goon owt off Sceyntewarye. 1509 in I. S. Leadam Sel. Cas. Crt. Requests (Selden Soc.) 12 Your pore orator..neuyr dare come oute off seyntory. 1513 More Rich. III in Hall Chron., Edw. V (1548) 8 That y⊇ kynges brother should be fayne to kepe sanctuary. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1079/1 This woman..fled in the night to Westminster for sanctuarie. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iii. i. 42 God forbid We should infringe the holy Priuiledge Of blessed Sanctuarie. Ibid. 47 You breake not Sanctuarie, in seizing him [the Dk. of York]. 1623–4 Act 21 Jas. I, c. 28 §7 And be it alsoe enacted..That no Sanctuarie or Priviledge of Sanctuary shalbe hereafter admitted or allowed in any case. 1624 Heywood Captives iii. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. IV. 155 Theft, rapine, contempt of religion, and breach of sanctury. 1708–22 J. Bingham Orig. Eccles. viii. x. §12 Wks. 1726 I. 334 Both by general Custom and Law under the Christian Emperors, every Church was invested with the Privilege of an Asylum, or Place of Sanctuary and Refuge in certain Cases. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xx. (1787) II. 223 The ancient privilege of sanctuary was transferred to the Christian temples. 1822 Scott Nigel xvi, Get into Whitefriars or somewhere for sanctuary and concealment, till you can make friends or quit the city. 1831 Ibid. Introd., Alsatia..possessing certain privileges of sanctuary, became for that reason a nest of..mischievous characters. 1859 Tennyson Guinevere 140 Mine enemies Pursue me, but, O peaceful Sisterhood, Receive, and yield me sanctuary. 1871 R. W. Dale Commandm. vi. 148 The altar of God itself was to be no sanctuary for..an actual murderer. 1898 J. T. Fowler Durham Cath. 63 Those who sought sanctuary fled to the church and knocked. |
b. in non-Christian countries (see 5 b); also transf. and fig.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 138 The Priuiledged place where⁓into the Persians vse to retyre for sanctuarie. 1641 Evelyn Diary 7 Aug., The Chapell and Refectory [of the Convent] full of the goods of such poor people as at the approach of the Army had fled with them thither for sanctuary. 1654 in T. Burton's Diary (1828) I. Introd. 23 Which, if in truth any would offer to impeach, by violence from without, it could receive no sanctuary nor advantage at all from such a declaration. 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. i. 32 A Heathen could say when a bird (scared by a Hawke) flew into his bosome, I will not betray thee unto thy enemy, seeing thou comest for Sanctuary unto me. How much lesse will God yield up a soule unto its enemy, when it takes Sanctuary in his Name. 1659 Hammond On Ps. lxii. 7 On him only I rely..for sanctuary when any distresse surrounds me. 1692 R. L'Estrange Fables liii. 53 A Stag that was hard set by the Huntsmen, betook himself to a Stall for Sanctuary, and prevail'd with the Oxen to Conceal him the best they could. a 1711 Ken Past. Let. Wks. (1838) 476 Many poor Protestant strangers are now fled hither for sanctuary, whom as brethren, as members of Christ, we should take in and cherish. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 294 When a Bitch Fox is bragged, and with Cub, she is hardly to be taken; for then she lieth near the Earth, and upon hearing the least Noise, she betakes herself to her Place of Sanctuary. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. l. (1846) V. 18 The precincts of Mecca enjoyed the rights of sanctuary. 1828–40 Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 43 The churches, to which the miserable inhabitants had fled for sanctuary, were violated and defiled with blood. 1849 Grote Greece ii. xlv. V. 469 Pleistoanax..lived for a long time in sanctuary near the temple of Athênê, at Tegea. 1855 Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1870) I. 397 It now rained heavily and..we..betook ourselves to sanctuary, taking refuge in St. Paul's Cathedral. |
c. to take sanctuary: to take refuge in a sanctuary. Also transf. and fig.
| 1429 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 360/2 Merchantz straungiers, yat..have stollen away, and daily taken seyntuaries. 1472–3 Ibid. VI. 20/1 That he never toke eny seyntwary, ne withdrewe hym from your good grace. 1504 in I. S. Leadam Sel. Cas. Crt. Requests (Selden Soc.) 8 Your saide besechar whan he was at large toke sayntewary and lost his goodes. 1513 More Rich. III (1883) 31 What if a mannes wyfe will take saintuary because she lyste to runne from her husbande. 1556 J. Heywood Spider & F. lii. 14 The spiders..In the copweb took sentuarie for defence. 1592 Arden of Feversham v. ii. 12, I haue the gould; what care I though it be knowne! Ile crosse the water and take sanctuary. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 75 The fishes which are many, haue taken Sanctuary in these waters, and none dare take them, but holde them holy. 1625 J. Robinson Ess. xxiv. (1851) I. 110 What intention could be better or action worse? We must not therefore take the sanctuary of fools by good meanings without knowledge. 1640 Yorke Union Hon. 40 In the beginning of King Edward's raigne, she was forced to take sanctuary at Westminster. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. II. 627 The Evasions of this Nature being only such miserable Shifts, as the Jews of later Ages have taken Sanctuary in. 1708–22 J. Bingham Orig. Eccles. viii. xi. §3 Wks. 1726 I. 335 Next..we are to consider..in what Cases they were allowed to take Sanctuary in their Churches. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 72 The gunner who had taken sanctuary in the woods. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 41 The Sea-Lions..will..if you pursue them, be glad to take Sanctuary in the Water. 1785 Wilkins tr. Bhagvat xiv. 97 They take sanctuary under this wisdom. 1878 Stevenson Inland Voy., Oise in Flood 104 Terrified creatures taking sanctuary in every nook along the shore. |
7. Hunting, etc.: The ‘privilege of forest’; also ‘close time’.
| 1603 Owen Pembrokeshire (1892) 265 As for hartes and hindes..yett some there are, and those lyve without sanctuarye or priviledge of fforest, free for every man to chase and hunte, at theire pleasure. 1892 Daily News 19 Apr. 3/5 Application was made to the Chief Ranger..for her [the hind's] recapture; but he promptly refused, on the grounds that the Forest was a ‘sanctuary’, and any wild animal escaping into the same was ‘of right free of the forest’. The impossibility of uncarting a deer and preventing its getting into the forest,..has by the enforcement of this ‘right of sanctuary’, aided the authorities in putting a stop to ‘Easter deer-baiting’. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 3 May 3/1 He would..extend the weekly close time, and he believes that if the present period of sanctuary was doubled, in a year or two at most the nets would be catching far more fish [salmon] than they now do in the longer period. |
III. 8. attrib. and Comb. a. Of senses 1–4, as sanctuary lamp, † sanctuary observance, sanctuary stair, sanctuary temple; † sanctuary garth = sense 4.
| c 1400 Apol. Loll. 35 Ȝe..han put kepars of my sanctuari obseruaunce to ȝor silf. 1412–13 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 610 Subtus cameram d'ni Prioris versus Seyntery-garth, 14d. c 1600 Rites of Durham (Surtees) 52 The sentuarie garth. Ibid. 53 The Sentory garthe. c 1624 Ibid. 205 note, Sanctuary garth. 1850 Wilkinson Archit. Anc. Egypt 82 Sanctuary Temples, consisting of a single chamber. 1862 H. E. M. tr. Monnin's Curé d'Ars Pref. 7 When I saw, by the light of the sanctuary-lamp, that wasted and withered form. 1866 Direct. Anglic. (ed. 3) 259 Sanctuary Lamp, that which burns before the Blessed Sacrament when it is reserved. 1893 F. Thompson Poems 45 The cowlèd night Kneels on the Eastern sanctuary-stair. |
b. Of senses 5 and 6, as sanctuary-breaking, sanctuary knocker, sanctuary place, sanctuary-seat, sanctuary town.
| a 1529 Skelton Sp. Parrot 496 So myche *sayntuary brekyng, and preuylegidde barrydd. |
| 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 255/2 The sanctuary seats at Hexham and Beverley and the *sanctuary knocker at Durham are still in existence. |
| 1529 Rastell Pastyme (1811) 297 Wherefore suche gentylmen as had appoynted to eyde the duke fled, some to *sentwary places, and some beyonde the sea. |
| 1886 *Sanctuary seat [see sanctuary knocker supra]. |
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 54 Richard Horsnayle Bailyfe of the *sanctuary towne called Good Esture in Essex. |
† c. sanctuary man (so also sanctuary woman, etc.), a man who has taken refuge in a sanctuary or privileged place of protection. Obs.
| 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 530 They went to Westmynster, and toke w{supt} them all maner of seyntwary men. 1513 More Rich. III (1883) 31 Verely I haue often heard of saintuarye menne. But I neuer heard erste of saintuarye chyldren. 1529 Rastell Pastyme (1811) 282 She went into Westmyster, and there regystarde her selfe as a sentwary woman. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII 39 If any Sanctuarie-man did by night or otherwise, get out of Sanctuarie priuily, and commit mischiefe and trespasse, and then come in againe, hee should loose the benefit of Sanctuarie for euer after. |
▪ II. ˈsanctuary, n.2 dial.
[Corruption of centaury.]
| [1530 Palsgr. 268/2 Seyntuary an herbe.] 1877 E. Leigh Chesh. Gloss. 175. 1886 Britten & Holland Eng. Plant-n. |
▪ III. † ˈsanctuary, v. Obs. rare.
[f. sanctuary n.1]
trans. To place in safety as in a sanctuary. Of a place: to afford protection or shelter (from).
| 1615 Heywood Foure Prentises D 3, Thy purse is sanctuary'd. 1631 ― Fair Maid West i. 9 Feare not sweet Spencer, we are now alone, And thou art sanctuar'd in these mine armes. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. iv. iv. §19 The Kings enemies once Sanctuaried, daring him no less then the Iebusites in their strong fort of Sion defied David. c 1676 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 32 St. James's where she had lodgings to sanctuary her from debt. |