shrine

English

Etymology

From Middle English shryne, from Old English scrīn (“reliquary, ark of the covenant”), from Medieval Latin scrīnium (“reliquary”), “case or chest for books or papers” in Classical Latin. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Compare Old Norse skrín, Old High German skrīni (German Schrein).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɹaɪ̯n/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪn

Noun

shrine (plural shrines)

1. A holy or sacred place dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, or similar figure of awe and respect, at which said figure is venerated or worshipped.
   • 2022 March 23, Paul Bigland, “HS2 is just 'passing through'”, in RAIL, number 953, page 41:

     Entering the tunnel, we pass a small shrine above our heads which contains a statue of St Barbara, the patron saint of tunnellers. It is traditional to have such shrines on every tunnel site.

2. A case, box, or receptacle, especially one in which are deposited sacred relics, as the bones of a saint.
3. (figuratively) A place or object hallowed from its history or associations.

   a shrine of art

Derived terms

• ancestral shrine
• enshrine
• shrinal
• shrine-goer
• shrinegoer
• shrineless
• shrinelet
• shrinelike
• Shriner

 

Translations

a holy place dedicated to a specific figure of respect

• Albanian: shenjtë (sq)
• Arabic: ضَرِيح‎ m (ḍarīḥ)
• Armenian: սրբավայր (hy) (srbavayr)
• Basque: santutxo
• Belarusian: ра́ка (be) f (ráka), святы́ня f (svjatýnja), храм m (xram)
• Bulgarian: светиня (bg) f (svetinja), храм (bg) m (hram), гробница на светец f (grobnica na svetec)
• Burmese: ဌာပနာတိုက် (my) (htapa.natuik)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 神社 (zh) (shénshè), 聖地／圣地 (zh) (shèngdì), 聖堂／圣堂 (zh) (shèngtáng)

• Czech: svatyně (cs) f
• Dutch: schrijn (nl)
• Egyptian: (kꜣr)
• Esperanto: adorejo, sanktejo
• Estonian: pühapaik
• Faroese: halgiskrín n
• Finnish: pyhäkkö (fi), pyhättö (fi), alttari (fi)
• French: sanctuaire (fr) m, lieu saint m
• Galician: santuario m, ermida f
• Georgian: ტაძარი (ṭaʒari), საკურთხეველი (saḳurtxeveli), აკლდამა (aḳldama)
• German: Heiligtum (de) n; (chiefly non-Christian also) Schrein (de) m; (Christian also, with specific meanings) Grabkirche f; Heiligenkapelle f; Bildstock (de) m; Wegekreuz n
• Greek: βωμός (el) m (vomós), ναός (el) m (naós)

  Ancient: ἱερόν n (hierón), ἄδυτον n (áduton)

• Hebrew: מִקְדָּשׁ‎ (he) m (mikdásh)
• Hindi: मन्दिर (hi) m (mandir), दरगाह (dargāh)
• Hungarian: kegyhely (hu), búcsújáróhely (hu)
• Italian: reliquiario m, santuario (it) m, edicola (it) f
• Japanese: 聖堂 (ja) (せいどう, seidō), 聖地 (ja) (せいち, seichi), (Shinto shrine) 神社 (ja) (じんじゃ, jinja)
• Khmer: ចេតិយ (km) (chaetdəy)
• Korean: 성당 (ko) (seongdang), 신사 (ko) (sinsa)
• Lao: ສານເຈົ້າ (lo) (sān chao)
• Latin: aedicula (la) f, delubrum n, sacellum n, aedis f, sacrarium n, fanum n
• Latvian: svētnīca f
• Lithuanian: šventykla f
• Macedonian: свети́лиште n (svetílište), храм m (hram), све́тиња f (svétinja)
• Malay: kuil, keramat (ms)
• Maori: tūāhu, ahurewa
• Mongolian: бунхан (mn) (bunxan)
• Northern Sami: giisá
• Norwegian: skrin, helgenskrin
• Persian: زیارتگاه‎ (fa) (zeyâratgâh)
• Plautdietsch: Denkjmol n
• Polish: świątynia (pl) f, miejsce kultu n
• Portuguese: relicário (pt) m, santuário (pt) m, oratório (pt) m
• Russian: ра́ка (ru) f (ráka), святы́ня (ru) f (svjatýnja), храм (ru) m (xram)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: све́тиња f, шкри̏ња f, хра̑м m, све̏тӣште n

  Roman: svétinja (sh) f, škrȉnja (sh) f, hrȃm (sh) m, svȅtīšte (sh) n

• Sicilian: santuaru m
• Slovak: svätyňa f
• Slovene: svetišče (sl) n
• Spanish: santuario (es) m
• Swedish: helgedom (sv), vallfärdsplats c, mecka (sv) n
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: ศาลเจ้า (sǎan-jâao)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: türbe (tr), mabet (tr)
• Ukrainian: ра́ка f (ráka), святи́ня f (svjatýnja), храм (uk) (xram)
• Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎘𐎗 (ảṯr)
• Urdu: مندر‎ m (mandir), درگاہ‎ m (dargāh)
• Venetian: capitèl (vec) m
• Vietnamese: lăng (vi), mộ (vi), đền (vi) (temple), điện (vi) (temple), linh địa
• Welsh: cysegrfan
• Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

a case, box, or receptacle, especially one in which are deposited sacred relics

• Bulgarian: сандъче за мощи n (sandǎče za mošti)
• Catalan: reliquiari m
• Esperanto: relikvujo, sanktejo
• French: châsse (fr) f
• Galician: firmal m, cubela f
• German: Schrein (de) m
• Greek: λάρνακα (el) f (lárnaka), λειψανοθήκη (el) f (leipsanothíki)
• Irish: cumhdach m
• Northern Sami: giisá
• Romanian: raclă (ro) f
• Spanish: relicario (es) m

Verb

shrine (third-person singular simple present shrines, present participle shrining, simple past and past participle shrined)

1. To enshrine; to place reverently, as if in a shrine.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Shrined in his sanctuary.

Translations

enshrine — see enshrine

Anagrams

• Hiners, Hirens, Shiner, renshi, rhines, shiner