sanctum

[sangk-tuh m]

noun, plural sanc·tums, sanc·ta

[sangk-tuh] /ˈsæŋk tə/.

a sacred or holy place.
an inviolably private place or retreat.

Origin of sanctum

1570–80; noun use of neuter of Latin sānctus; see Sanctus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for sancta

altar, shrine, temple, chancel, sacrarium

Examples from the Web for sancta

Historical Examples of sancta

Oh, sancta not simplicitas, but —— Oh, clear-sighted Republican!
Diary from March 4, 1861, to November 12, 1862
Adam Gurowski
I asked her to say an Ave and a Sancta est Maria mater gratiae.
Princes and Poisoners
Frantz Funck-Brentano
She became abbess of the nuns of Sancta Clara, and castigated her body.
History of the Jews, Vol. IV (of VI)
Heinrich Graetz
With Francis all virtues were holy (sancta obedientia, sancta paupertas).
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume I of II)
Henry Osborn Taylor
His first demand will be to celebrate mass in Sancta Sophia.
The Prince of India, Volume II
Lew. Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for sancta

sanctum

noun plural -tums or -ta (-tə)

a sacred or holy place
a room or place of total privacy or inviolability

Word Origin for sanctum

C16: from Latin, from sanctus holy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sancta

sanctum

1570s, "holy place of the Jewish tabernacle," from Latin sanctum "a holy place," as in Late Latin sanctum sanctorum "holy of holies" (translating Greek to hagion ton hagion, translating Hebrew qodesh haqqodashim), from neuter of sanctus "holy" (see saint (n.)). In English, sanctum sanctorum attested from c.1400; in sense of "a person's private retreat" from 1706.