[syn: hallowed, sacred]
5. (often followed by `to') devoted exclusively to a single use or purpose or person;
- Example: "a fund sacred to charity"
- Example: "a morning hour sacred to study"
- Example: "a private office sacred to the President"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Sacred \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.
[1913 Webster]
2. Relating to religion, or to the services of religion; not
secular; religious; as, sacred history.
[1913 Webster]
Smit with the love of sacred song. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
3. Designated or exalted by a divine sanction; possessing the
highest title to obedience, honor, reverence, or
veneration; entitled to extreme reverence; venerable.
[1913 Webster]
Such neighbor nearness to our sacred [royal] blood
Should nothing privilege him. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Poet and saint to thee alone were given,
The two most sacred names of earth and heaven.
--Cowley.
[1913 Webster]
4. Hence, not to be profaned or violated; inviolable.
[1913 Webster]
Secrets of marriage still are sacred held. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
5. Consecrated; dedicated; devoted; -- with to.
[1913 Webster]
A temple, sacred to the queen of love. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
6. Solemnly devoted, in a bad sense, as to evil, vengeance,
curse, or the like; accursed; baleful. [Archaic]
[1913 Webster]
But, to destruction sacred and devote. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
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. (Zool.) 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 (Zool.) See Scarab.
Sacred canon. See Canon, n., 3.
Sacred fish (Zool.), any one of numerous species of
fresh-water African fishes of the family Mormyridae.
Several large species inhabit the Nile and were considered
sacred by the ancient Egyptians; especially Mormyrus
oxyrhynchus.
Sacred ibis. See Ibis.
Sacred monkey. (Zool.)
(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.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Holy; divine; hallowed; consecrated; dedicated; devoted;
religious; venerable; reverend.
[1913 Webster] -- Sa"cred*ly, adv. -- Sa"cred*ness,
n.
[1913 Webster] Sacrific
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
sacred
adj 1: concerned with religion or religious purposes; "sacred
texts"; "sacred rites"; "sacred music" [ant: profane,
secular]
2: worthy of respect or dedication; "saw motherhood as woman's
sacred calling"
3: made or declared or believed to be holy; devoted to a deity
or some religious ceremony or use; "a consecrated church";
"the sacred mosque"; "sacred elephants"; "sacred bread and
wine"; "sanctified wine" [syn: consecrated, sacred,
sanctified]
4: worthy of religious veneration; "the sacred name of Jesus";
"Jerusalem's hallowed soil" [syn: hallowed, sacred]
5: (often followed by `to') devoted exclusively to a single use
or purpose or person; "a fund sacred to charity"; "a morning
hour sacred to study"; "a private office sacred to the
President"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
114 Moby Thesaurus words for "sacred":
all-knowing, all-powerful, all-seeing, all-wise, almighty, alto,
angelic, awe-inspiring, awesome, awful, baritone, bass, blessed,
boundless, bravura, ceremonial, changeless, cherished, choral,
choric, churchly, coloratura, consecrated, creating, creative,
dedicated, defended, divine, dramatic, ecclesiastical, eternal,
eternally the same, everlasting, falsetto, glorious, godly, good,
guarded, hallowed, heavenly, heroic, hieratic, highest, holy,
hymnal, immortal, immune, immutable, ineffable, inenarrable,
inexpressible, infinite, inviolable, inviolate, just, limitless,
liturgical, loving, luminous, lyric, majestic, making, merciful,
numinous, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, one, operatic,
permanent, perpetual, priestly, protected, psalmic, psalmodial,
psalmodic, radiant, religious, revered, ritual, sacramental,
sacrosanct, sainted, saintly, sanctified, shaping, shielded,
singing, solemn, soprano, sovereign, spiritual, supreme, tenor,
the holy, the ineffable, the inenarrable, the inexpressible,
the numinous, the unspeakable, the unutterable, timeless, treble,
ubiquitous, unbounded, unchanging, undefined, unlimited,
unspeakable, untouchable, unutterable, venerable, venerated,
vocal
V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (February 2016):
SACRED
Securely Available CREDential (RFC 3760)
The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
sacred
adj.
Reserved for the exclusive use of something (an extension of the standard
meaning). Often means that anyone may look at the sacred object, but
clobbering it will screw whatever it is sacred to. The comment ?Register 7
is sacred to the interrupt handler? appearing in a program would be
interpreted by a hacker to mean that if any other part of the program
changes the contents of register 7, dire consequences are likely to ensue.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
sacred
Reserved for exclusive use by something. The term
might mean only writable by whatever it is sacred to.
For example, "Register 7 is sacred to the interrupt handler"
would mean that if any other code changed the contents of
register 7, dire consequences would ensue.
[Jargon File]
(2002-12-30)
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
SACRED, adj. Dedicated to some religious purpose; having a divine
character; inspiring solemn thoughts or emotions; as, the Dalai Lama
of Thibet; the Moogum of M'bwango; the temple of Apes in Ceylon; the
Cow in India; the Crocodile, the Cat and the Onion of ancient Egypt;
the Mufti of Moosh; the hair of the dog that bit Noah, etc.
All things are either sacred or profane.
The former to ecclesiasts bring gain;
The latter to the devil appertain.
Dumbo Omohundro