Sa"cred (?), a. [Originally p. p. of OE. sacren to consecrate, F. sacrer, fr. L. sacrare,
fr. sacer sacred, holy, cursed. Cf. Consecrate, Execrate, Saint,
Sexton.]
1. Set apart by
solemn religious ceremony; especially, in a good sense, made holy; set apart to religious use; consecrated; not profane or common; as,
a sacred place; a sacred day; sacred service.
2. Relating to religion, or to the services of religion; not secular; religious; as, sacred history.
Smit with the love of
sacred song.
Milton.
3. Designated or exalted by a
divine sanction;
possessing the highest title to obedience, honor, reverence, or veneration; entitled to extreme reverence; venerable.
Such neighbor nearness to our sacred [royal] blood
Should nothing privilege him.
Shak. Poet and saint to
thee alone were given,
The two most
sacred names of earth and heaven.
Cowley.
4. Hence, not to be
profaned or violated; inviolable.
Secrets of marriage still are sacred held.
Dryden. 5. Consecrated; dedicated; devoted; -- with to.
A temple, sacred to the queen
of love.
Dryden. 6. Solemnly devoted, in a bad sense, as to evil, vengeance, curse, or the
like; accursed; baleful. [Archaic]
But, to destruction sacred
and devote.
Milton. Society of the Sacred Heart (R.C. Ch.), a religious order of women, founded in France in 1800, and approved in 1826. It was introduced into America in 1817. The members of the order devote themselves to the higher branches of female education. -- Sacred baboon.
(Zoöl.) See Hamadryas. -- Sacred bean (Bot.), a seed of the Oriental lotus (Nelumbo speciosa or
Nelumbium speciosum), a plant resembling a water lily; also, the plant itself. See Lotus. -- Sacred beetle
(Zoöl.) See Scarab. -- Sacred
canon. See Canon, n.,
3. - - Sacred fish (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of fresh-water African fishes of the family
Mormyridæ. Several large species inhabit the Nile and
were considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians; especially Mormyrus oxyrhynchus. --
Sacred ibis. See Ibis. -- Sacred monkey.
(Zoöl.) (a) Any Asiatic monkey of the genus
Semnopithecus, regarded as sacred by the
Hindoos; especially, the
entellus. See Entellus. (b) The sacred baboon. See Hamadryas.
(c) The bhunder, or rhesus monkey. -- Sacred place (Civil Law), the place where a deceased person is buried.
Syn. --
Holy; divine; hallowed;
consecrated; dedicated; devoted; religious; venerable; reverend.
-- Sa"cred*ly (#), adv. -- Sa"cred*ness, n.
Hear it pronounced