Word of the Day
: March 19, 2013sacrosanct
playWhat It Means
1 : most sacred or holy : inviolable
2 : treated as if holy : immune from criticism or violation
sacrosanct in Context
Our family traditions may seem silly to outsiders, but to us they are sacrosanct.
"'Is college a lousy investment?' This was the question posed in a Newsweek cover story in the fall, a blunt challenge to America’s long-standing, nearly sacrosanct belief in the value of a college education." - From an article by Bob King in Business Lexington (Kentucky), February 14, 2013
Did You Know?
That which is sacrosanct is doubly sacred: the two Latin components underlying the word, "sacro" and "sanctus," were combined long ago to form a phrase meaning "hallowed by a sacred rite." "Sacro" means "by a sacred rite" and comes from "sacrum," a Latin noun that lives on in English anatomy as the name for our pelvic vertebrae-a shortening of "os sacrum," which literally means "holy bone." "Sanctus" means "sacred" and gave us "saint" and obvious words like "sanctimony," "sanctify," and "sanctuary."
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