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Webster 1913 Edition

Sacrilege

Sac′ri-lege

,
Noun.
[F.
sacrilège
, L.
sacrilegium
, from
sacrilegus
that steals, properly, gathers or picks up, sacred things;
sacer
sacred +
legere
to gather, pick up. See
Sacred
, and
Legend
.]
The sin or crime of violating or profaning sacred things; the alienating to laymen, or to common purposes, what has been appropriated or consecrated to religious persons or uses.
And the hid treasures in her sacred tomb
With
sacrilege
to dig.
Spenser.
Families raised upon the ruins of churches, and enriched with the spoils of
sacrilege
.
South.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sacrilege

SAC'RILEGE

,
Noun.
[L. sacrilegium; sacer, sacred, and lego, to take or steal.]
The crime of violating or profaning sacred things; or the alienating to laymen or to common purposes what has been appropriated or consecrated to religious persons or uses.
And the hid treasures in her sacred tomb with sacrilege to dig.

Definition 2024

sacrilege

sacrilege

See also: sacrilège

English

Noun

sacrilege ‎(plural sacrileges)

  1. Desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something regarded as sacred.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ↑ “sacrilege” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Latin

Etymology

From sacrilegus ‎(“sacrilegious”), from sacer ‎(“sacred, holy”) + legō ‎(“gather; take, steal”).

Adverb

sacrilegē ‎(not comparable)

  1. sacrilegiously, impiously

Synonyms

Related terms

References

Old French

Etymology

First attested at the end of the 12th century, borrowing from Latin sacrilegium[1].

Noun

sacrilege m ‎(oblique plural sacrileges, nominative singular sacrileges, nominative plural sacrilege)

  1. sacrilege

Descendants

References

  1. ↑ “sacrilège” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Etymology

Circa 1300, original sense “stealing something sacred”. From Old French sacrilege, from Latin sacrilegium, from sacrilegus ‎(“sacrilegious”), from phrase sacrum legere, from sacrum (from sacer ‎(“sacred, holy”)) + legō ‎(“gather; take, steal”), from Proto-Indo-European *sak- and Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-. Sense of “profanation” from late 14th century.[1]

Unrelated to religion, which is ultimately from ligō ‎(“I tie, bind, or bandage”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- ‎(“to bind”).

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