Sainted

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Declared a saint through an official religious process ; acted with exemplary moral goodness
2. Formally recognized as holy by religious authority ; displayed exceptional virtue or moral conduct
3. Officially canonized as a saint in a church ; conducted oneself in an especially virtuous way

Etymology: Before it described a churchly honour, "saint" was a verb's cousin in the making of other words: "sanctus" in Latin meant "holy, consecrated" and was the past participle of "sancire", "to render sacred". Its relative "sacer", meaning "sacred", sits in the same family. Medieval English speakers took the noun "saint" from Old French, which had itself come from that Latin participle, and it sat alongside an older native word, "halwe", that ultimately survived in English only as "hallow". "Sainted" then grew from a separate verb. Middle English had "saynten" and "seinten", meaning to make someone a saint, drawing partly on Anglo-Norman "saintir" and partly on the noun. So the adjective is simply the past form of that verb, describing someone who has been formally made a saint. The looser sense, of a person who behaved with exceptional virtue, grew out of that churchly meaning, so a "sainted" mother or relative is praised by borrowing the language of canonization.

Synonyms: holy, sacred, venerated, blessed, revered

Antonyms: wicked, sinful, damned, unholy, profane