reliquary

noun

rel·​i·​quary ˈre-lə-ˌkwer-ē How to pronounce reliquary (audio)
plural reliquaries
: a container or shrine in which sacred relics are kept

Examples of reliquary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Inside the chamber was a sandstone chest containing five reliquaries (containers for holy relics), which held bones and ash alongside nearly 1,800 pearls, rubies, topazes, sapphires and other gems. Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 May 2025 In Chicago, there is a parish of the Blessed Carlo Acutis, and there’s another of the same name in England; there’s a shrine to him at a church in New Jersey that Carlo’s mother furnished with an ornate reliquary containing a strand of his hair. Emily Harnett, Harpers Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025 This is a reliquary of human technology, revealed in a scene that suggests how future beings, like paleontologists inferring huge dinosaurs from tiny bones, get so much wrong. Jesse Green, New York Times, 5 Feb. 2025 Gilded silver reliquaries with sculpted hands stand next to a pair of Hermès gloves. Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for reliquary

Word History

Etymology

French reliquaire, from Medieval Latin reliquiarium, from reliquia relic — more at relic

First Known Use

1550, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of reliquary was in 1550

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Reliquary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reliquary. Accessed 15 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

reliquary

noun
rel·​i·​quary ˈrel-ə-ˌkwer-ē How to pronounce reliquary (audio)
plural reliquaries
: a small box or shrine in which sacred relics are kept

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