saint

American  

[saynt] / seɪnt /

noun

• saints
  plural

1. any of certain persons of exceptional holiness of life, formally recognized as such by the Christian Church, especially by canonization.

2. a person of great holiness, virtue, or benevolence.

3. a founder, sponsor, or patron, as of a movement or organization.

4. (in certain religious groups) a designation applied by the members to themselves.

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verb (used with object)

• saints,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sainted,
  past participle,  past
• sainting
  present participle

1. to enroll formally among the saints recognized by the Church.

2. to give the name of saint to; reckon as a saint.

saint British  

/ seɪnt, sənt /

noun

1. a person who after death is formally recognized by a Christian Church, esp the Roman Catholic Church, as having attained, through holy deeds or behaviour, a specially exalted place in heaven and the right to veneration

2. a person of exceptional holiness or goodness

3. (plural) Bible the collective body of those who are righteous in God's sight

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verb

1. (tr) to canonize; recognize formally as a saint

saint Cultural  

1. In Christianity, a holy person, living or dead; a person who has been saved (see salvation) (see also salvation). Saint is the French word for “holy.” Many churches reserve the title of saint for persons who have died faithful to their Christian commitment. The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church require certain procedures before people can be officially named saints; this procedure is called canonization.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• saintdom
  noun
• supersaint
  noun
• outsaint
  verb (used with object)
• saintless
  adjective
• saintlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• saints
  plural

Participles

• sainting
  present
• sainted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• saint
  simple
• saints
  simple
• have sainted
  perfect
• has sainted
  perfect
• am sainting
  progressive
• are sainting
  progressive
• is sainting
  progressive
• have been sainting
  perfect progressive
• has been sainting
  perfect progressive

Past

• sainted
  simple
• had sainted
  perfect
• was sainting
  progressive
• were sainting
  progressive
• had been sainting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will saint
  simple
• will have sainted
  perfect
• will be sainting
  progressive
• will have been sainting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of saint

before 1000; Middle English (noun and v.) < Old French (noun) < Latin sānctus sacred, adj. use of past participle of sancīre to consecrate, equivalent to sanc- (akin to sacer sacred ) + -tus past participle suffix; replacing Old English sanct < Latin, as above

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Explanation

A saint is a person who is very holy — or just very good. If you gave all your money away to charity, some people might consider you a saint. Saint can refer to a person who is officially recognized as holy within a particular faith or religion. However, any person who is considered deeply religious or especially generous could be called a saint. You might say that someone is a saint if they go to religious services every day, or if they spend a lot of time volunteering at a school or at a hospital.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

saint saints sainted sainting

The Catholic Church is trying to allay fears regarding Our Lady's patron saint status, granted by the pope in 1930.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

Industry friends won’t unless they’re either a saint, a sap or just stupid.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

In his statement in court, Francisco Texeira da Mota, representing Pinto, accepted that his client was "not a hero and not a saint" but said he had brought "advantages for society".

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

Yet posterity knows this patron saint of the college English major as the father of economics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Their house was filled with those protective saint candles you get at the grocery store for a few bucks.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Every religion needs its saints, and mine wore number 12.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

“Why do you like all the saints with horrible deaths?” asks Paul, who is undecided—and perhaps growing uninterested.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

As I stared into empty niches that once contained massive wooden statues of saints, I meditated on how fragile our democracy is.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026

Vietnam has had 117 people beatified and later canonised as saints, but the Church said this was the first time a beatification ceremony had been held in the country rather than at the Vatican.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

Praying Mother Washington had not come in until all of the saints were on their knees, and now she stood, the terrible, old, black woman, above his Aunt Florence, helping her to pray.

From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin

Cheering would have been the sainted Leon Panetta, former congressman, defense secretary and CIA chief.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025

In his travels, Tocqueville saw pieces of the famous Plymouth Rock all over: used as doorstops, as paperweights, set in the centers of mantels like the mandibles of sainted martyrs.

From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2024

Even the sainted John McCain and Ronald Reagan failed in their first attempts.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2024

The sainted man kindly directed my husband to a urinal and then escorted him outside, handing me his clothing with sympathy and obvious relief.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2021

Call’s cuss words were taught to him by his sainted grandmother and tended to be as quaint as the clothes she made for him.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

O, such a pretty knack at painting, And all for soft’ning, and for sainting!

From Moores Fables for the Female Sex by Edward Caldwell Moore

Here is ... the sainting of two horrid conspirators!

From The Trial of Theodore Parker For the "Misdemeanor" of a Speech in Faneuil Hall against Kidnapping, before the Circuit Court of the United States, at Boston, April 3, 1855, with the Defence by Theodore Parker

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