consecrate
Americanverb (used with object)
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consecrates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
consecrated,
past participle, past
-
consecrating
present participle
-
to make or declare sacred; set apart or dedicate to the service of a deity.
to consecrate a new church building.
- Antonyms:
- desecrate
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to make (something) an object of honor or veneration; hallow.
a custom consecrated by time.
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to devote or dedicate to some purpose.
a life consecrated to science.
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to admit or ordain to a sacred office, especially to the episcopate.
-
to change (bread and wine) into the Eucharist.
adjective
verb
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to make or declare sacred or holy; sanctify
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to dedicate (one's life, time, etc) to a specific purpose
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to ordain (a bishop)
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Christianity to sanctify (bread and wine) for the Eucharist to be received as the body and blood of Christ
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to cause to be respected or revered; venerate
time has consecrated this custom
adjective
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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consecraternoun
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consecrationnoun
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consecratornoun
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deconsecrateverb (used with object)
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preconsecrateverb (used with object)
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reconsecrateverb (used with object)
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consecrativeadjective
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consecratoryadjective
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unconsecrativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
consecratesimple
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consecratessimple
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have consecratedperfect
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has consecratedperfect
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am consecratingprogressive
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are consecratingprogressive
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is consecratingprogressive
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have been consecratingperfect progressive
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has been consecratingperfect progressive
Past
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consecratedsimple
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had consecratedperfect
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was consecratingprogressive
-
were consecratingprogressive
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had been consecratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of consecrate
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English consecraten, from Latin consecrātus (past participle of consecrāre ), equivalent to con- + -secr- (variant, in noninitial syllables, of sacer “consecrated, holy”) + -ātus, past participle suffix; see origin at con-, sacred, -ate 1
Explanation
Consecrate means to make holy or to dedicate to a higher purpose. You need to consecrate a building to turn it into a church, but you can also consecrate a week in New York City to the pursuit of the perfect bagel. The secr part of consecrate comes from the Latin sacer "sacred." Remember that something consecrated is dedicated to God and thus sacred. And then remember that the meanings of words tend to stretch; over time this one moved from "dedicated to God" to "dedicated to whatever": jelly donuts, the perfect tan, finding a solution to Rubik's Cube.
Vocabulary lists containing consecrate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She was buried on an island in the Spencers' Althorp estate, rather than a graveyard - and the book describes how a bishop was brought to consecrate the ground to make it possible.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Leo recently warned the group against moving forward with its plans to consecrate the bishops in open defiance of his authority.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
“It is defined by our congregants and by the strength of our shared purpose. Our crisis, our grief, our loss also contains within it the seeds of a rebirth that we consecrate this evening.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2026
Bean boots and a hooded sweatshirt, Rabbi Rachel Isaacs paused to consecrate the ice beneath her feet before she commandeered it for a higher purpose.
From New York Times ● Apr. 6, 2024
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate... we cannot consecrate ... we cannot hallow this ground.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
An America that euphemizes this grievance as a matter of “race relations,” and in the process consecrates race as a natural category, is an America that still isn’t confronting its reality.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2016
In her exaltation of women, she purifies and consecrates their desires.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 30, 2015
Male domination in the leadership of the Church of England is coming to an end, as the 500-year-old institution consecrates its first female bishop.
From Time ● Jan. 26, 2015
In its most traditional form, the priest consecrates the bread and wine in a whisper with his back to the congregation: anathema to those who think openness is the spirit of the age.
From Economist ● Dec. 13, 2012
The priest then takes the tapers and the babe, consecrates and confirms him by three profound inclinations before the altar, gives candles and child back to the godfather and blesses both.
From Armenian Legends and Festivals by Louis A. Boettiger
Their presence may allude to the hymn “Panis Angelicus,” or “bread of angels,” written by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century as a poetic reference to the presence of Christ in the consecrated host.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
She said the square has been consecrated by dignitaries of all religious denominations in Ganvie, making it a respected place, both spiritual and symbolic.
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
Presiding over the service was Cardinal Robert Prevost, who is now Pope Leo XIV and whose devotion to Guadalupe is such that he was consecrated as a bishop 11 years ago this Dec. 12.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025
When Bishop Dyer was consecrated in March 2018, Jen Bressers was in her final year of training to be a priest.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
Clara was the one in whom she confided her most subtle feelings, and to her she consecrated her enormous capacity for sacrifice and veneration.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
The Vatican declared a formal schism with the Society of St. Pius X, excommunicating its bishops and priests for consecrating four bishops without papal consent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
The society sees consecrating new bishops as a necessity, arguing it has only two bishops left.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
These are the kinds of things you hear in line at Telluride, attendees hoping to do some consecrating and electing of their own.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2024
In circles that emphasize biblical patriarchy, often rooted in the Calvinist or Reformed wing of Christianity, some have suggested that civil government should have no role in consecrating marriage.
From Salon ● May 26, 2024
After dinner we all went to the front room where the priest took a small book from his jacket to recite some prayers, consecrating our house and our family.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
