shrine

English

Etymology

From Middle English shryne, from Old English scrīn (“reliquary, ark of the covenant”), from Latin scrīnium (“case or chest for books or papers”). 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
• shrinegoer
• shrine-goer
• 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 (zh), 圣地 (zh) (shèngdì), 聖堂 (zh), 圣堂 (zh) (shèngtáng)

• Czech: svatyně (cs) f
• Dutch: schrijn (nl)
• Egyptian: (kꜣr)
• Esperanto: adorejo
• Estonian: pühapaik
• Faroese: halgiskrín n
• Finnish: pyhäkkö (fi), pyhättö (fi), alttari (fi)
• French: sanctuaire (fr) m, lieu saint m
• 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 (せいどう, seidō), 聖地 (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: параклис m (paraklis)
• Malay: kuil, keramat (ms)
• Maori: tūāhu, ahurewa
• Mongolian: бунхан (mn) (bunkhan)
• 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

• 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)
• 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)
• French: châsse (fr) f
• German: Schrein (de) m
• Greek: λάρνακα (el) f (lárnaka), λειψανοθήκη (el) f (leipsanothíki)

• 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 6”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     Shrined in his sanctuary.

Translations

enshrine — see enshrine

Anagrams

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