† halidom, -dome Obs. or arch.
(ˈhælɪdəm, dəʊm)
Forms: 1 háliᵹdóm, 2–3 haliȝdom, 4 halydam, 4–7 halydom, halidam, 5–6 holydom(e, 6 hollidam(e, hollydam, 6–7 halli-, 6–9 halidome, 7 haly-doome, holidam(e, holydam(e, 8–9 halidame, 3– halidom.
[OE. háliᵹdóm = MDu. heilichdoem (Du. heiligdom), OHG. heilîgtuom (Ger. heiligtum), ON. helgidómr (Da. helligdom), f. OTeut. *hailag-, OE. háliᵹ, holy: see -dom. The substitution of -dam, -dame, in the suffix was app. due to popular etymology, the word being taken to denote ‘Our Lady’.]
† 1. Holiness, sanctity. Obs.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 167 Mycel is se haliᵹdom & seo weorþunᵹ Sancte Iohannes. c 1200 Ormin 2117 Hiss haliȝdom Was godedd himm and ekedd. a 1626 Bp. Andrewes Serm. xiii. (1661) 488 Then had it His perfect halydome; then it was holy indeed. |
2. A holy place, chapel, sanctuary. arch.
| c 1000 ælfric Exod. xxi. 6 Bringe his hlaford hine to þæs haliᵹdomes dura. 1636 James Iter Lanc. (Chetham Soc.) 2 They were not onely streets but halydoms. 1820 Scott Monast. ii, Under the necessity of marching with the men of the Halidome, as it was called, of Saint Mary's. 1839 Bailey Festus v. (1848) 46 The world Is Thy great halidom. |
3. A holy thing, a holy relic; anything regarded as sacred. Much used, down to 16th c., in oaths and adjurations.
| c 1000 Laws of Ethelred iii. c. 2 On þam haliᵹdome swerian þe him man on hand sylð. c 1200 Ormin 1785 Itt iss Godess arrke, & iss All full off haliȝdomess. c 1205 Lay. 15343 ær he heom hæfden isworen uppen halidom. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5629 Þat dar y swere on þe halydom. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2123 As help me God & þe halydam. a 1483 Gild Tailors Exeter in Eng. Gilds 318 As god you helpp and holydom. 1529 More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 237/2 My Lordes all, as helpe me God and halidome maister doctour here sayd vnto me [etc.]. c 1561 T. Preston Cambyses in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 244 So help me God and halidom, it is pity of his life. [1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. v. 103 note, Let the twelve senior thegns..swear on the halidome which shall be put in their hands.] |
b. Hence the asseveration: by my halidom.
| 1533 J. Heywood Johan & Tib B ij, Nowe so God helpe me, and by my holydome. 1567 Triall Treas. in Hazl. Dodsley III. 276 Now, by my halidom, it is alone. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. ii. 136 By my hallidome, I was fast asleepe. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, v. i. 117 Now by my Holydame, What manner of man are you? 1765 H. Walpole Otranto v. (1798) 79 By my halidame, if it should ever be known. 1823 Scott Quentin D. ii, ‘By my halidome, he is ashore.’ |