sanctuarium

Latin

Etymology

Possibly sanctus (“holy”) +‎ -ārium (improperly for an adjective), via *sanctuārius, (relating to sanctity). But the u, which is unexpected for the second declension, makes this doubtful. The Late Latin noun sanctus post-dates sanctuārium by several centuries.

Noun

sānctuārium n (genitive sānctuāriī or sānctuārī); second declension

1. prince's lockbox
2. (Late Latin) shrine, sanctuary
3. (Late Latin) relics of a saint; a case for such relics

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sānctuārium	sānctuāria
Genitive	sānctuāriī sānctuārī1	sānctuāriōrum
Dative	sānctuāriō	sānctuāriīs
Accusative	sānctuārium	sānctuāria
Ablative	sānctuāriō	sānctuāriīs
Vocative	sānctuārium	sānctuāria

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Descendants

• Catalan: santuari
• English: sanctuary
• French: sanctuaire
• Italian: santuario
• Old Galician-Portuguese: santuairo
• → Galician: santuario
• → Portuguese: santuário
• Piedmontese: santuari
• Polish: sanktuarium
• Romanian: sanctuar
• Spanish: santuario

References

• “sanctuarium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sanctuarium in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• sanctuarium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.