santo

See also: Santo

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k-

Proto-Indo-European *-né-

Proto-Indo-European *sh₂néktider.

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Italic *-jōder.

Proto-Italic *sankjō

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tos

Proto-Italic *sanktos

Latin sānctus

Old Spanish sancto

Old Spanish santo

Spanish santobor.

English santo

Borrowed from Spanish santo.

Noun

santo (plural santos)

1. (art) A wooden or ivory statue of a saint, angel or other religious figure, found in Spain and former Spanish colonies.
   • 1972, Shirley Glubok, The Art of the Spanish in the United States and Puerto Rico:

     A santo may get a new coat of paint on its feast day or at Christmas. Or sometimes, when a prayer has been granted, a Puerto Rican repays his santo with a fresh coat of paint.

See also

• vin santo, Vin Santo

Anagrams

• natos, tonas, sat on, Stano, aston, Aston, Atons, Tanos

Asturian

Adjective

santo

1. neuter of santu

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish santo (“saint”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsanto/, [ˈsãn̪.t̪o]
• Hyphenation: san‧to

Noun

santo

1. saint

Galician

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese santo, from Latin sānctus, perfect passive participle of sanciō (“consecrate, appoint as sacred”), from Proto-Indo-European *sān- (“healthy, happy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsanto/ [ˈs̺an̪.t̪ʊ]
• Rhymes: -anto
• Hyphenation: san‧to

Adjective

santo (feminine santa, masculine plural santos, feminine plural santas)

1. holy, sacred

Derived terms

• camposanto

Noun

santo m (plural santos, feminine santa, feminine plural santas)

1. saint

Derived terms

• costa abaixo todos os santos axudan

Related terms

• san
• santificar

Further reading

• “santo”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• santu (nonstandard)

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese santo (“male saint”), from Old Galician-Portuguese santo, from Latin sānctus, perfect passive participle of sanciō (“consecrate, appoint as sacred”), from Proto-Indo-European *sān- (“healthy, happy”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈsanto/ [ˈsan̪.t̪o]
• Rhymes: -anto
• Syllabification: san‧to

Noun

santo m (feminine santa)

1. (Christianity) saint

Further reading

• “santo”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Istriot

Etymology

Derived from Latin sānctus.

Adjective

santo

1. holy

Italian

Alternative forms

• san (Saint, before a consonant (except preconsonantal s))
• sant' (Saint, before a vowel)
• S. (Saint, abbreviation)

Etymology

Derived from Latin sānctus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsan.to/
• Rhymes: -anto
• Hyphenation: sàn‧to

Adjective

santo (feminine santa, masculine plural santi, feminine plural sante, superlative santissimo)

1. holy

Noun

santo m (plural santi, feminine santa)

1. saint
2. (before a name of a saint or in place names, often capitalized) Saint

Derived terms

• Anno Santo
• camposanto
• santa Messa
• Santa Sede
• santabarbara
• santamente
• santificare
• santificazione
• santino
• santissimo
• santità
• Santo Padre
• Santo Sepolcro
• santone
• santorale
• santuario
• Settimana Santa
• Spirito Santo
• Terra Santa
• tutti i Santi / Ognissanti
• vinsanto

See also

• beato
• sacro

Further reading

• santo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• stano, stanò, stona

Ladino

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish santo, sancto, from Latin sānctus.

Adjective

santo (Hebrew spelling סאנטו)

1. holy (godly)

   Synonyms: kadosh, sagrado

   Hyponym: santisimo

Noun

santo m (Hebrew spelling סאנטו, feminine santa)

1. male saint
   • 2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Por el plazer de kontar‎^[1], Nur Afakot, page 28:

     Este es un kuento atado a una eksperiensa emosional sovrenatural, ke sea una eksperiensa emosional sovrenatural, ke sea una eksperiensa emosional relijioza personal, komo por exemplo un kuento sovre un santo sovrenatural o sovre un amahamiento mirakolozo, ke se trate de una eksperiensia emosional de un enkontro kon un ser sovrenatural o de un ser de otro mundo, komo un guerko o un fantazma.

     This is an account connected to an emotional supernatural experience, whether it be an emotional supernatural experience, or a personal emotional religious experience, as for example an account about a supernatural saint or about a miracle cure, it is about an emotional experience from an encounter with a supernatural being or a being from another world, like a demon or a ghost.

Related terms

• santifikado
• santifikador
• santifikamiento
• santifikar
• santifikarse
• santifikasión
• santuario

See also

• sakro

Neapolitan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin sanctus.

Pronunciation

• (Naples) IPA^(key): [ˈsandə], (in sandhi) [-u]
  • (feminine) IPA^(key): [ˈsandə], (in sandhi) [-a]

Adjective

santo (feminine singular santa, plural sante)

1. holy

References

• AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 800: “la pila dell'acqua santa” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
• Ledgeway, Adam (2009), Grammatica diacronica del napoletano, Tübingen: Niemeyer, pages 80, 82

Old Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

• san (before consonants)
• sãto, sancto

Etymology

Inherited from Latin sānctus, from Proto-Italic *sanktos, from *sankjō + *-tos.

Adjective

santo m (plural santos, feminine santa, feminine plural santas)

1. holy; sacred

   Synonym: sagrado

Related terms

• fogo de San Marçal
• Padre Santo
• Santa Maria
• Santiago

Noun

santo m (plural santos, feminine santa, feminine plural santas)

1. (Catholicism) saint

Descendants

• Fala: santu
• Galician: santo
• Portuguese: santo, sancto (obsolete)
  • → Kadiwéu: xaanto
  • → Kongo: santu
  • → Nheengatu: santu
  • → Tetum: santu

References

• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2026), “san ~ santo¹, santa”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2026), “santo²”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “santo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “santo”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Old Spanish

Alternative forms

• san, sancto, sant, santi

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k-

Proto-Indo-European *-né-

Proto-Indo-European *sh₂néktider.

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Italic *-jōder.

Proto-Italic *sankjō

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tos

Proto-Italic *sanktos

Latin sānctus

Old Spanish sancto

Old Spanish santo

Adjective

santo (feminine santa)

1. (religion) sacred; consecrated; holy; godly
   • c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 78v. col. 2.:

     Vn poco adelant apar de orient. es elaltar de ſanta trinjdat o la uera .☩. ſolie eſtar. todo es enla egleſia. dentro en el ſepulcro

     [Un poco adelant apar de orient es el altar de Santa Trinidat o la Vera Cruz solíe eſtar. Todo es en la eglesia, dentro en el sepulcro.]

     A little toward the east is the altar of the Holy Trinity, where the True Cross used to be. Everything is in the church, inside the sepulcher.

Descendants

• Ladino: santo, סאנטו
• Spanish: santo
  • Tagalog: santo

References

• Ralph Steele Boggs et al. (1946), “santo”, in Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, volume II, Chapel Hill, page 457

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀲𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁄 (Brahmi script)
• सन्तो (Devanagari script)
• সন্তো (Bengali script)
• සන‍්තො (Sinhalese script)
• သန္တော or သၼ္တေႃ or သၼ်တေႃ (Burmese script)
• สนฺโต or สันโต (Thai script)
• ᩈᨶ᩠ᨲᩮᩣ (Tai Tham script)
• ສນ຺ໂຕ or ສັນໂຕ (Lao script)
• សន្តោ (Khmer script)
• 𑄥𑄚𑄴𑄖𑄮 (Chakma script)

Adjective

santo

1. nominative singular/plural masculine of santa, which is present active participle of atthi (“to be”)
2. nominative singular masculine of santa (“calm”), which is past participle of sammati (“to be calmed”)
3. nominative singular masculine of santa (“tired”), which is past participle of sammati (“to be tired”)

Portuguese

Santo Antônio de Lisboa

Alternative forms

• sancto (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese santo, from Latin sānctus, perfect passive participle of sanciō (“consecrate, appoint as sacred”), from Proto-Indo-European *sān- (“healthy, happy”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsɐ̃.tu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsɐ̃.tu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsɐ̃.to/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsɐ̃.tu/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Homophone: Santo
• Rhymes: -ɐ̃tu
• Hyphenation: san‧to

Adjective

santo (feminine santa, masculine plural santos, feminine plural santas, comparable, comparative mais santo, superlative o mais santo or santíssimo, diminutive santinho)

1. holy, sacred
   1. dedicated to a religious purpose or a god; religious

      Synonym: religioso

      Antonyms: laico, secular

   2. flawless from a religious point of view

      Synonyms: perfeito, puro

   3. designed or exalted by a divine sanction; venerable

      Synonyms: sagrado, sacro, venerável

   4. (of a day) during which one must dedicate himself to religion, rather than work
   5. saintly; relating to saints
2. (figuratively) pure, immaculate, undefiled
   1. innocent

      Synonyms: puro, inocente

      Antonyms: impuro, pecador, réprobo

   2. chaste

      Synonyms: puro, casto, imaculado

      Antonyms: impuro, libidinoso

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “flawless from a religious point of view”): impuro, pecador, réprobo

Derived terms

• campo-santo
• Santo
• todo santo dia

Noun

santo m (plural santos, feminine santa, feminine plural santas)

1. (Roman Catholicism) someone who has been formally canonised by the Catholic Church
2. (Candomblé, Afro-Brazilian religion) orisha (deities in the Yoruba religion)
3. saint (a virtuous or holy person)
4. an extremely kind individual

Derived terms

• feitura de santo
• mãe de santo
• pai de santo
• quando a esmola é demais, o santo desconfia
• santeiro
• santinho
• santo do pau oco
• santo padroeiro

Related terms

• santificação
• santificado
• santificador
• santificante
• santificar
• santificável
• santimônia
• santuário

Descendants

• → Kadiwéu: xaanto
• → Kongo: santu
• → Nheengatu: santu
• → Tetum: santu

Further reading

• “santo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “santo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “santo”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026

Spanish

Alternative forms

• sancto (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k-

Proto-Indo-European *-né-

Proto-Indo-European *sh₂néktider.

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Italic *-jōder.

Proto-Italic *sankjō

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tos

Proto-Italic *sanktos

Latin sānctus

Old Spanish sancto

Old Spanish santo

Spanish santo

Inherited from Old Spanish santo, sancto, from Latin sānctus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsanto/ [ˈsãn̪.t̪o], (title before nouns) /santo/ [sãn̪.t̪o]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -anto
• Syllabification: san‧to

Adjective

santo (masculine singular before a noun san, feminine santa, masculine plural santos, feminine plural santas, superlative santísimo)

1. holy, godly

Noun

santo m (plural santos, feminine santa, feminine plural santas)

1. male saint
2. name day

   Synonym: onomástica

Usage notes

• When used before a masculine noun, the apocopic form san is used instead of santo.

Derived terms

• Altos Días Santos
• año santo
• árbol de santa Lucía
• bula de la santa cruzada
• campo santo
• como a un santo dos pistolas
• Día de los Santos Inocentes
• Día de Todos los Santos
• dormir en santa paz
• espina santa
• Espíritu Santo
• flor de Santa Lucía
• guerra santa
• hierba santa
• hueso de santo
• irse el santo al cielo
• Jueves Santo
• llegar y besar el santo
• mano de santo
• padre santo
• palo santo
• por todos los santos
• quedarse para vestir santos
• san
• santo de pajares
• Santo Grial
• santo grial
• Santo Niño
• santo patrón
• santo patrono
• Santo Tomás
• santo y bueno
• santo y seña
• ser santo de la devoción de alguien
• Tierra Santa
• toque de santo
• Viernes Santo

Related terms

• santidad
• santificar

See also

• sacro
• sagrado

Further reading

• “santo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• Santo
• Sto. — abbreviation

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k-

Proto-Indo-European *-né-

Proto-Indo-European *sh₂néktider.

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Italic *-jōder.

Proto-Italic *sankjō

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tos

Proto-Italic *sanktos

Latin sānctus

Old Spanish sancto

Old Spanish santo

Spanish santobor.

Tagalog santo

Borrowed from Spanish santo, from Old Spanish santo, from sancto, from Latin sānctus, from Proto-Italic *sanktos, from *sankjō + *-tos.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈsanto/ [ˈsan̪.t̪o], /sanˈto/ [sɐn̪ˈt̪o]
• Rhymes: -anto, -o
• Syllabification: san‧to

Noun

santo or santó (feminine santa, Baybayin spelling ᜐᜈ᜔ᜆᜓ)

1. saint (especially a male saint)
2. image or statue of a saint

Derived terms

• Araw ng mga Santo
• kasanto-santuhan
• kasantuhan
• pagkasanto
• santo-santito
• santo-santo
• santo-santuhan
• Santong Sulat
• santuhin
• walang sinasanto

Related terms

• Biyernes Santo
• delos Santos
• Espiritu Santo
• Huwebes Santo
• kamposanto
• Miyerkoles Santo
• por Diyos, por santo
• sakrosanto
• San
• santakrusan
• santelmo
• santisima
• santisimo
• Santisimo Sakramento
• santo oleo
• Santo Padre
• Santo Papa
• Santos
• santuron
• Todos los Santos

See also

• pintakasi
• rebulto
• santuwaryo

Adjective

santo or santó (feminine santa, Baybayin spelling ᜐᜈ᜔ᜆᜓ)

1. referring to an important figure, item, or event which had a masculine gender in Spanish: holy; sacred (used in certain expressions)

   Synonym: banal

Further reading

• “santo”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Anagrams

• tanso