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

The current controversy centres around two idols of Dwarapalakas - or the door guards that stand just outside the sanctum sanctorum where the main deity sits.

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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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