Sanctuary Definition
săngkcho͝o-ĕrē
sanctuaries
noun
sanctuaries
A sacred place, such as a church, temple, or mosque.
American Heritage
A holy place, as a building set aside for worship of the divinity or of one or more deities.
Webster's New World
A place of refuge or protection; asylum: orig., fugitives from justice were immune from arrest in churches or other sacred places.
Webster's New World
Immunity from punishment or the law, as by taking refuge in a church, etc.
Webster's New World
The condition of being protected or comforted.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
- harborage
- shelter
- refuge
- asylum
- national park. See syn. study at shelter.shelter
- park
- game refuge
- national-park
- chancel
- bema
- shrine
- sanctum-sanctorum
- sanctum
- safe-harbor
- sacrarium
Other Word Forms of Sanctuary
Noun
Singular:
sanctuary
Plural:
sanctuariesOrigin of Sanctuary
-
From Middle English sanctuary , from Old French saintuaire, from Late Latin sanctuarium (“a sacred place, a shrine, a private cabinet, in Medieval Latin also temple, church, churdyard, cemetery, right of asylum"), from Latin sanctus (“holy, sacred"); see saint.
From Wiktionary
-
Middle English from Old French sainctuarie from Late Latin sānctuārium from Latin sānctus sacred sanctify
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Find Similar Words
Find similar words to sanctuary using the buttons below.