the act of consecrating; dedication to the service and worship of a deity.
the act of giving the sacramental character to the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine, especially in the Roman Catholic Church.
ordination to a sacred office, especially to the episcopate.
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English consecracio(u)n, from Anglo-French, from Latin consecrātiōn-, stem of consecrātiō; equivalent to consecrate + -ion
Most often used in a religious context, consecration is the act of dedicating something to God, sanctifying it and making it holy. For example, someone entering the priesthood goes through a consecration rite that establishes his holy commitment. If we go to the root of consecration, we find the Latin noun sacer, or "sacred." Add the prefix con, meaning "with," and you can figure out that the verb consecrare means "to do with sacred dedication." In time, the word also came to mean any religious or secular action or dedication that indicated a strong commitment to some purpose, as in “He approached his job with the consecration of a religious zealot.”
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Allen, from what I can tell, was not advocating for social revolution, or a total inversion of the market economy, or the consecration of a Marxist state.
From Slate • May 1, 2026
Devotees descended on the temple despite calls to wait until the high-security consecration had ended.
From New York Times • Jan. 22, 2024
Modi will be in attendance, alongside several Hindu priests, for the consecration ceremony in which a statue of Ram is to be placed in the temple’s inner sanctum.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 16, 2024
The War Requiem was commissioned to mark the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962, after the original 14th Century building was destroyed in a World War Two bombing raid.
From BBC • Dec. 6, 2023
The Cairo airport was where scores of Hajj groups were becoming Muhrim, pilgrims, upon entering the state of Ihram, the assumption of a spiritual and physical state of consecration.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
