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.

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.

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