unconsecrated
Britishadjective
Explanation
Anything that's unconsecrated hasn't been declared to be sacred. Knowing whether something or someone is unconsecrated is important during religious rituals. In the Christian religious rite of the Eucharist, ordinary unconsecrated bread and wine is made holy. The act of blessing them is called consecration, from the Latin sacrare, or "dedicate." Unconsecrated things have not been dedicated or imbued with holiness. A religious believer might object to a deceased relative's burial in an unconsecrated cemetery.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He learned, only recently, that he had a half sister who died at the home in 1950s and that her remains, presumably, are commingled in the site’s unconsecrated ground.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 13, 2018
Fifteen of the bodies still remain buried in unconsecrated graves within the prison walls.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2016
And yet there is something narrow, and basically anachronistic, about this view of “the comments” as a phenomenon restricted to the unconsecrated ground below the line.
From The New Yorker • Jun. 17, 2015
The unconsecrated cemetery’s rusty gates are festooned with colourful feathers, trinkets and ribbons.
From Economist • Jun. 19, 2014
It is at present denouncing the secularisation of the Church of St. Genevi�ve, in order that Victor Hugo, who died a Freethinker and was buried without religious rites, might repose in an unconsecrated place.
From Flowers of Freethought (First Series) by Foote, G. W. (George William)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
