Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To declare or set apart as sacred.
  • transitive verb To sanctify (bread and wine) for Eucharistic use through a ritual regarded by some Christian churches as effecting transubstantiation.
  • transitive verb To initiate (a priest) into the order of bishops.
  • transitive verb To dedicate solemnly to a service or goal. synonym: devote.
  • transitive verb To make venerable; hallow.
  • adjective Dedicated to a sacred purpose; sanctified.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Sacred; consecrated; devoted; dedicated.
  • To make or declare sacred with certain ceremonies or rites; appropriate to sacred uses or employments; set apart, dedicate, or devote to the service of the Deity: as, to consecrate a church; to consecrate the eucharistic elements. See consecration, 1.
  • Specifically, in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, to initiate solemnly into the order of bishops, as a priest. See consecration, . To devote or dedicate from profound feeling or a religious motive: as, his life was consecrated to the service of the poor.
  • To make revered or worshiped, or highly regarded; hallow: as, a custom consecrated by time.
  • To place among the gods; apotheosize.
  • To enroll among the saints; canonize.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Consecrated; devoted; dedicated; sacred.
  • transitive verb To make, or declare to be, sacred; to appropriate to sacred uses; to set apart, dedicate, or devote, to the service or worship of God.
  • transitive verb To set apart to a sacred office.
  • transitive verb To canonize; to exalt to the rank of a saint; to enroll among the gods, as a Roman emperor.
  • transitive verb To render venerable or revered; to hallow; to dignify.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To declare, or otherwise make something holy.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb appoint to a clerical posts
  • verb dedicate to a deity by a vow
  • verb give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause
  • adjective solemnly dedicated to or set apart for a high purpose
  • verb render holy by means of religious rites

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English consecraten, from Latin cōnsecrāre, cōnsecrāt- : com-, intensive pref.; see com– + sacrāre, to make sacred (from sacer, sacr-, sacred; see sak- in Indo-European roots).]

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Examples

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  • being holy with God

    October 1, 2010