sanctum sanctorum

[ sangk-tawr-uhm, -tohr- ]

noun

the holy of holies of the Biblical tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem.
sanctum (def. 2).

Origin of sanctum sanctorum

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

Bible another term for the holy of holies
often facetious an especially private place

Origin of sanctum sanctorum

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.

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