sanctify

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to make holy or formally set apart for sacred use

   The bishop came to sanctify the newly built chapel.

2. 2
   verb

   to purify from sin or make spiritually acceptable

   The prayer asks God to sanctify those who enter the community.

Simplified etymology

Sanctify entered English in the late Middle English period and is based on Latin sanctus “holy,” which also gave English saint and sanctity.

From Anglo-Norman seintefier and Old French saintefier, from Late Latin sanctificare, "to make holy." The Latin verb combines sanctus, "holy," with facere, "to make or do"; the English spelling was later reshaped toward the Latin form.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary