hallow

American  

[hal-oh] / ˈhæl oʊ /

verb (used with object)

• hallows,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hallowed,
  past participle,  past
• hallowing
  present participle

1. to make holy; sanctify; consecrate.

2. to honor as holy; consider sacred; venerate.

   to hallow a battlefield.

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hallow British  

/ ˈhæləʊ /

verb

1. to consecrate or set apart as being holy

2. to venerate as being holy

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hallower
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• hallowing
  present
• hallowed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• hallow
  simple
• hallows
  simple
• have hallowed
  perfect
• has hallowed
  perfect
• am hallowing
  progressive
• are hallowing
  progressive
• is hallowing
  progressive
• have been hallowing
  perfect progressive
• has been hallowing
  perfect progressive

Past

• hallowed
  simple
• had hallowed
  perfect
• was hallowing
  progressive
• were hallowing
  progressive
• had been hallowing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will hallow
  simple
• will have hallowed
  perfect
• will be hallowing
  progressive
• will have been hallowing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of hallow

First recorded before 900; Middle English hal(o)wen, Old English hālgian (cognate with German heiligen, Old Norse helga ), derivative of hālig “consecrated, sacred, holy”; see holy

Explanation

To hallow is to bless, consecrate, or render holy by means of religious rites, especially significant religious places or the relics of saints. As a noun, hallow means "saint." The word for our popular holiday Halloween is a shortened form of "All Hallows' Eve," or "All Saints' Eve," which precedes All Saints' Day. In the verb form, the synonyms bless and sanctify are more commonly used these days, but hallow still appears in such phrases as "hallowed ground" (ground that's been blessed) and the Christian "hallowed be Thy name" (a phrase from "The Lord's Prayer," where hallowed means "revered").

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hallow hallows hallowed hallowing

“No building will ever achieve the eloquence of this void in speaking of the event. We do not hallow this ground simply by filling it with buildings.”

From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2020

Happily for America, we rely on lessons of experience where we hallow and raise not men but ideas and virtues.

From Time ● Sep. 16, 2016

The “I don’t know why” response rings hallow.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 8, 2016

For a self-proclaimed straight shooter, Rousey rang hallow during fight week when she said on a pre-bout conference call with media that if fans wanted another bout with Tate so did she.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 2, 2015

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate... we cannot consecrate ... we cannot hallow this ground.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

He came on a meadow between two streams where the flower called white hallows grew thick, and as these blossoms are rare and prized by healers, he came back again next day.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick rests in the Friends burial ground in an unmarked grave, but his spirit hallows several houses in Alexandria.

From Seaport in Virginia George Washington's Alexandria by Gay Montague Moore

The same tranquil beauty, as of old, hallows this place; the same sense of awe and mystery broods over its silent shrines of everlasting renown.

From Shakespeare's England by William Winter

The least act of pure self-renunciation hallows, for the moment, all within its sphere.

From Life Without and Life Within or, Reviews, Narratives, Essays, and poems. by Margaret Fuller

But Ambrose thought of the Great Mountain, of the secret valleys, of the sanctuaries and hallows of the saints, of the rich carven work of lonely churches hidden amongst the hills and woods.

From The Secret Glory by Arthur Machen

Many victims’ families and advocacy groups, some of whom vowed to lay down in front of bulldozers, objected to rebuilding on the site because they considered it a graveyard and hallowed ground.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Now, he says there's tangible excitement about the venue's future and stars should feel there is as much "hallowed turf" here than over in the Olympic Park.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Serena has 14 titles on the hallowed grass court — six in doubles, one mixed doubles and seven in singles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

But that he’s done it with such singular style and childlike glee is enough to make the audience remember that a movie theater is a hallowed space.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

He must have asked the obvious question, and that was when she broke the hallowed rule.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

Now “Becoming” is the hallowing of her second coming: as an unprecedented, potentially billion-dollar American brand.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 6, 2018

The Central Committee's hallowing of that 1976 ceremony was a subtle way for Teng to humiliate his old enemies.

From Time Magazine Archive

At St. Louis they drove across the prairie through flowering and fragrant shrubs, past orchards bending and breaking with loads of fruit, where boys rode by on calico ponies "hallowing & laughing."

From Time Magazine Archive

What a beautiful tribute was this to the past! a handful of worshippers lingering round the broken altar of their temple, and hallowing its very ruins.

From The Puddleford Papers, Or Humors of the West by H. H. Riley

If we sing, Deo gratias, and Te Deum laudamus, and say, God be praised and blessed, when misfortune overtakes us, that is called by Peter and Isaiah a true hallowing of the Lord.

From The Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude Preached and Explained by E. H. (Ezra Hall) Gillett

Related Words

• sanctify