santo

American  

[san-toh, sahn-, sahn-taw] / ˈsæn toʊ, ˈsɑn-, ˈsɑn tɔ /

noun

• santos
  plural

1. a carved figure of a saint, usually of wood, as from Puerto Rico, Mexico, or the southwestern United States.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• santos
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of santo

First recorded in 1630–40, for an earlier sense; from Spanish: literally, saint; from Latin sānctus

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

santo santos

It’s essentially something between olive oil and olio santo, except it’s a little sweeter and less spicy.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

To make my own, I alchemized a potpourri of sandalwood, hinoki wood, palo santo, mint, patchouli and tachibana orange.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026

It’s such a cliché, but I’ve got this sunset out my window and my palo santo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2025

Do you really burn palo santo around the theater?

From New York Times ● Apr. 30, 2024

I for one hope Snuffy Ledoux comes back to start another Smokey the Bear santo riot!”

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

A National Historic Landmark, El Santuario de Chimayó is decorated with original examples of 19th century Hispanic religious folk art, including santos and religious frescoes.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2023

A wall relief featuring haloed saints painted on individual lengths of two-by-fours attached to a board of dappled color seems obliquely related to the santos tradition.

From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2012

Testimonios “The All-Powerful Hand of Christ”, a painted wood santos by Norberto Cedeño, is in this exhibition of “popular expression” at El Museo del Barrio.

From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2012

They have some of the charged, crude intensity of New Mexican santos.

From Time Magazine Archive

People were treating those pudgy, diminutive Floresta santos the way one might treat a voodoo doll.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

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