sanctum santorum

English

Etymology

See sanctum sanctorum.

Noun

sanctum santorum (uncountable)

1. Misspelling of sanctum sanctorum.
   • 1879, James Dugan, Doctor Dispachemquic: a story of the Great Southern Plague of 1878, New Orleans: Clarke & Hofeline, →LCCN, →OL, page 111:

     […] he observed the great and good man standing near the door of his sanctum santorum, smiling sweetly and blandly upon the assembled multitude, and giving a most gracious hearing to each applicant.

   • 2004 December 28, Michael Mitchell, The Molly Fire, Toronto: ECW Press, →ISBN, →OL, page 104:

     Then doors of the sanctum santorum close with a crash. We are left drained, stunned and stupefied in the dark. Silence seeps back. The ritual is over.

   • 2008 October 22, Brian Lamb, Susan Swain, editors, Abraham Lincoln: Great American Historians on Our Sixteenth President, PublicAffairs, →ISBN, →OL, page 270:

     You walk up fifty-seven marble stairs. You open these big brass doors, and there in this sanctum santorum, this holy of holies, is this little tiny cabin.