Sanctificare

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make holy or sacred through religious rites; to consecrate a person, place, or object for divine purposes; to set apart as sacred in a spiritual context
2. The act of declaring or rendering something sacred by a religious or spiritual blessing; the process of dedicating something to holy use; to imbue with sanctity as part of a ceremonial practice
3. To render something hallowed or consecrated by ritual means; the formal dedication of persons or things to a sacred function; the spiritual transformation through sanctifying acts or prayers

Etymology: "Sanctificare" is a Latin verb built from two parts: "sanctus," meaning holy or consecrated, and "-ficare," a suffix from "facere," to make or do. Put together, it means to make something holy. The pattern is the same as "magnificare" (to make great) or "ædificare" (to build), so the word reads almost like an instruction: sanctus plus facere. Its root, "sanctus," is the past participle of "sancire," to make sacred or to ratify with a binding penalty. That legal sense, of fixing something in place under religious authority, sits behind the word's older meaning. Latin speakers used "sanctificare" in the religious sense of consecrating people, places and objects to God. In English the word entered as "sanctify," a borrowing from Old French "sanctifier," which came from the Latin. The English form keeps the same core meaning: to make holy, or to set apart for sacred use.

Synonyms: sanctify, consecrate, bless

Antonyms: desecrate, profane