sanctus

See also: Sanctus

Latin

Etymology

Perfect passive participle of sanciō (“consecrate, appoint as sacred”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsaːnk.tus/, [ˈs̠äːŋkt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsank.tus/, [ˈsäŋkt̪us]

Participle

sānctus (feminine sāncta, neuter sānctum, comparative sānctior, superlative sānctissimus); first/second-declension participle

1. sacred, made inviolable, having been established as sacred.
2. venerable, august, divine, blessed, holy, saintly
   • 4th century, St Jerome, Vulgate, Tobit 3:25

     et missus est angelus Domini sanctus Rafahel ut curaret ambos quorum uno tempore fuerat oratio in conspectu Domini recitata (And the holy angel of the Lord, Raphael was sent to heal them both, whose prayers at one time were rehearsed in the sight of the Lord.)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	sānctus	sāncta	sānctum		sānctī	sānctae	sāncta
Genitive	sānctī	sānctae	sānctī		sānctōrum	sānctārum	sānctōrum
Dative	sānctō		sānctō		sānctīs
Accusative	sānctum	sānctam	sānctum		sānctōs	sānctās	sāncta
Ablative	sānctō	sānctā	sānctō		sānctīs
Vocative	sāncte	sāncta	sānctum		sānctī	sānctae	sāncta

Noun

sānctus m (genitive sānctī); second declension

1. (Late Latin) A saint; person who lives a holy and virtuous life.

   "Dorothy Day erat sancta viva." (Dorothy Day was a living saint.)

2. (Late Latin) A person who is officially proclaimed as having lived a life of heroic virtue.

   "Kateri Tekakwitha sancta proclamata est." (Kateri Tekakwitha was proclaimed a saint.)

3. (Late Latin) A title given to (2), usually capitalized, prefixed to the person's name.

   "Sanctus Stephanus Protomartyr"

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sānctus	sānctī
Genitive	sānctī	sānctōrum
Dative	sānctō	sānctīs
Accusative	sānctum	sānctōs
Ablative	sānctō	sānctīs
Vocative	sāncte	sānctī

Descendants

• → Albanian: shenjtë
• Aromanian: sãntu, sãmtu
• Asturian: santu
• Catalan: sant
• Corsican: santu
• Dalmatian: suant
• → Danish: Sankt
• → Dutch: Sint
• → English: saint
• Extremaduran: santu
• French: saint
• Friulian: sant
• Galician: santo
• → German: Sankt
• → Irish: San
• Istriot: santo
• Italian: santo
• Ladin: sant, sent
• Leonese: santu
• Ligurian: sànto
• Mirandese: santo
• Norman: saint
• Occitan: sant
• Old Occitan: sant
• Piedmontese: sant
• Portuguese: santo, são
• Romanian: sânt
• Romansch: sontg, sogn, son, sench, sonch
• Sardinian: santu
• Sicilian: santu
• Spanish: santo, san
  • → Tagalog: santo
• → Swedish: Sankt
• Venetian: santo
• → Welsh: sant

Derived terms

• sāncta
• sānctificātiō
• sānctificō
• sānctimōnia

References

• “sanctus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sanctus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sanctus 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)
• sanctus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be an earnest worshipper of the gods: deos sancte, pie venerari
    
  • the laws of Solon ordained that..: Solonis legibus sanctum erat, ut or ne
    
• sanctus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “sanctus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray