Sagrada

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A concept embodying sacredness or holiness, often used in religious contexts to denote something revered
2. Referring to something that holds profound significance or esteem, especially in a spiritual or cultural sense
3. Describing an entity or place that is protected due to its spiritual value or connection to divine qualities

Etymology: Latin "sacer" could mean both holy and cursed. The same root gave Romans the phrase "homo sacer," a person who could be killed without it counting as murder, because he had been placed outside the protection of both gods and law. Holiness and dangerous set-apartness were two sides of one idea. "Sagrada" is the feminine form of the Spanish adjective "sagrado," meaning sacred, so it agrees with a feminine noun, as in "la montaña sagrada." It descends from Latin "sacratus," "consecrated," the past participle of "sacrare," "to make holy," which comes from "sacer." The Latin verb passed into Spanish through regular sound change, and the word kept its religious sense. The best-known modern use is the name of Barcelona's Sagrada Família, "Holy Family," in which the adjective modifies the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Synonyms: sacred, holy, consecrated, blessed, divine

Antonyms: profane, secular, unholy, impious