sanctum sanctorum

[ sangk-tawr-uhm, -tohr- ]

noun
  1. the holy of holies of the Biblical tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem.

Origin of sanctum sanctorum

1
1350–1400; Middle English <Latin sānctum sānctōrum, translation of Hebrew qōdhesh haqqodhāshīm holy of holies

Words Nearby sanctum sanctorum

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sanctum sanctorum in a sentence

  • The doors of the Opera, that sanctum sanctorum, was at length to be opened to him.

    Masters of French Music | Arthur Hervey
  • He was busied in this personal experiment, when a visitor was announced and ushered into his sanctum sanctorum.

    A Dream of Empire | William Henry Venable
  • The grubs' dormitory is the sanctum sanctorum which no outsider must enter under pain of death.

    The Life of the Fly | J. Henri Fabre
  • And their religious temples were constructed upon the same model, with an outer court and an inner court,—a sanctum sanctorum.

    The Bible Of Bibles; | Kersey Graves
  • Lady Katrine and Churchill laid their heads together; here, in this very sanctum sanctorum.

    Helen | Maria Edgeworth

British Dictionary definitions for sanctum sanctorum

sanctum sanctorum

/ (sæŋkˈtɔːrəm) /


noun
  1. Bible another term for the holy of holies

  2. often facetious an especially private place

Origin of sanctum sanctorum

1
C14: from Latin, literally: holy of holies, rendering Hebrew qōdesh haqqodāshīm

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

Cultural definitions for sanctum sanctorum

sanctum sanctorum

[ (sangk-tuhm sangk-tawr-uhm) ]


Latin for “holy of holies.” The place in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (see also Jerusalem) where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. By extension, a sacred and private place.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.