shrine
[shrahyn]
- a building or other shelter, often of a stately or sumptuous character, enclosing the remains or relics of a saint or other holy person and forming an object of religious veneration and pilgrimage.
- any place or object hallowed by its history or associations: a historic shrine.
- any structure or place consecrated or devoted to some saint, holy person, or deity, as an altar, chapel, church, or temple.
- a receptacle for sacred relics; a reliquary.
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- to enshrine.
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Origin of shrine
before 1000; Middle English schrine, Old English scrīn (cognate with German Schrein, Dutch schrijn) < Latin scrīnium case for books and papers
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for shrine
Contemporary Examples
Many clients come from the neighborhood surrounding the shrine.
Denied in his green-card application, he said, “I came instantly that day,” to the shrine.
One of the most important rooms in the temple is the shrine of Sheik Adi ibn Musafir.
In a long struggle with a smack addiction, he made novenas at the Shrine of St. Jude, patron of hopeless cases.
Justin Bieber was forced to apologize for his visit to the shrine this week.
Historical Examples
At the back of the garden you can see a shrine to the household gods.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, MycenaeJennie Hall
The church became the shrine of the eikon of the Theotokos 227Hodegetria.
Byzantine Churches in ConstantinopleAlexander Van Millingen
The darkness of the shrine symbolises the darkness of the world, of life and death and being.
Things as They AreAmy Wilson-Carmichael
But the oracle comes because we had previously laid siege to the shrine.
Essays, First SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
But the crowd had heard him and the insult offered to the shrine.
The Strolling SaintRaphael Sabatini
shrine
- a place of worship hallowed by association with a sacred person or object
- a container for sacred relics
- the tomb of a saint or other holy person
- a place or site venerated for its association with a famous person or event
- RC Church a building, alcove, or shelf arranged as a setting for a statue, picture, or other representation of Christ, the Virgin Mary, or a saint
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- short for enshrine
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Word Origin
Old English scrīn, from Latin scrīnium bookcase; related to Old Norse skrin, Old High German skrīni
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
Word Origin and History for shrine
n.
Old English scrin "ark (of the covenant); chest, coffer; case for relics," from Latin scrinium "case or box for keeping papers," of unknown origin. From late 14c. as "a tomb of a saint" (usually elaborate and large). A widespread word, cf. Dutch schrijn, German Schrein, French écrin, Russian skrynya, Lithuanian skrine.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper