sanctum
- a sacred or holy place.
- an inviolably private place or retreat.
Origin of sanctum
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, 1862Adam Gurowski
I asked her to say an Ave and a Sancta est Maria mater gratiae.
Princes and PoisonersFrantz 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 IILew. Wallace
sanctum
- a sacred or holy place
- a room or place of total privacy or inviolability
Word Origin for sanctum
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.