Consecrating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of establishing the sacredness of a location or object typically involves formal rituals or prayers
2. This practice designates a person, place, or item as holy, often through ceremonial rites or spiritual observances
3. The act of making someone or something holy is often achieved through specific ceremonies or divine invocation

Etymology: The verb "consecrate" reached English in the late 14th century, when Middle English speakers used "consecraten" to mean to dedicate an altar or church, to ordain a bishop, or to anoint a king or pope. Its Latin ancestor, "cōnsecrāre," combined "con-" (an intensifying prefix, "together" or "thoroughly") with "sacrāre," from "sacer," meaning holy or set apart. The root thus carries the idea of making something fully sacred, and it is the same root that gives English "sacred" and "sacrament." The English word came to us through Latin's perfect passive participle, "cōnsecrātus," meaning "having been made holy." Medieval English adopted that participle as its past form, "consecrat," and then added the verb-forming suffix "-en," producing "consecraten." Over centuries the ending was dropped, leaving "consecrate" as the familiar verb.

Synonyms: sanctifying, blessing

Antonyms: desecrating, profane