holiness

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ˈhoʊlinəs/ UK /ˈhəʊlinəs/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the state of being sacred, pure, or spiritually consecrated

Pilgrims sought the holiness believed to dwell within the shrine.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the state of being sacred,... sanctity sacredness godliness piety saintlinessdevoutnessblessedness spirituality

Opposites

impiety wickedness profanityungodliness

Word family

Related forms holy hallow unholy wholly

Etymology

From Old English hālignes ('holiness, sanctity'), from hālig ('holy'), from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz ('holy, sacred'), ultimately from *hailaz ('whole, sound').

hālignes Old English *hailagaz Proto-Germanic *kóh₂ilus Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Law & Government Word Formation & Derivatives

# holiness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈhoʊlinəs
**IPA (UK):** ˈhəʊlinəs

## Meanings
1. the state of being sacred, pure, or spiritually consecrated

## Examples
- Pilgrims sought the holiness believed to dwell within the shrine.

## Synonyms
- sanctity
- sacredness
- godliness
- piety
- saintliness
- devoutness
- blessedness
- spirituality

## Antonyms
- impiety
- wickedness
- profanity
- ungodliness

## Related Forms
- holy
- hallow
- unholy
- wholly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hālignes
- Root: *hailagaz
- Root: *kóh₂ilus

## Etymology
From Old English hālignes ('holiness, sanctity'), from hālig ('holy'), from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz ('holy, sacred'), ultimately from *hailaz ('whole, sound').

## AI Etymology
Holiness comes from Old English hālignes ('holiness, sanctity'), from hālig ('holy'), from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz ('holy, sacred'), ultimately from *hailaz ('whole, sound'). The etymological trail includes Old English hālignes, Proto-Germanic *hailagaz, and Proto-Indo-European *kóh₂ilus. As a noun, holiness names the state of being sacred, pure, or spiritually consecrated. The same family is visible in related forms such as holy, hallow, unholy, and wholly.

## Topics
- Law & Government
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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holiness

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