Sanctifiers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Entities or individuals that confer holiness or sacredness upon someone or something
2. People who elevate the moral or spiritual status of others through their actions or beliefs
3. Agents believed to purify or bless through designated rituals or practices

Etymology: "Sanctifiers" is the plural of "sanctifier," a term meaning those who make holy. The word is built from "sanctify" plus the agent suffix "-er," which English attaches to verbs to name the person or thing that performs the action. The verb "sanctify" carries the Latin root "sanctus" ("holy") and the sense of making sacred, so a sanctifier is literally one who makes something holy. The suffix has a longer ancestry than the verb it attaches to. The ending traces back through Proto-Italic and Latin "-arius," which denoted a person connected with a role or trade, to Old French "-ier," and then reached English through Middle English "-er," the same route followed by countless other agent nouns. English thus joined a Latin-derived verb to a suffix that arrived in the language by way of French.

Synonyms: holy makers, blessers