sanctum

[sangk-tuhm]

noun

plural

sanctums, sancta 

1. a sacred or holy place.

2. an inviolably private place or retreat.

sanctum

/ ˈsæŋktəm /

noun

1. a sacred or holy place

2. a room or place of total privacy or inviolability

Word History and Origins

Origin of sanctum¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of sanctum¹

C16: from Latin, from sanctus holy

Example Sentences

At the temple, Prapakaran, the software engineer, walked 11 circles around the inner sanctum, part of the ritual for currying favor with the Visa God.

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Initially wary of allowing cameras into the sanctum of the dressing room, Reid says his misgivings soon disappeared.

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Boyce impressed his bosses and was soon cleared to enter the steel-doored fortress called the “black vault,” a classified sanctum where he was exposed to sensitive CIA communications pertaining to America’s network of espionage satellites.

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They listen to Pepsi-branded transistor radios, fence with disc jockey Murray the K, who insinuates himself into their inner sanctum.

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The YouTube edgelords-turned-GOP darlings had made it to the inner sanctum.

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