sanctity
/ˈsaŋ(k)tɪti
/noun (plural sanctities) [mass noun]
1The state or quality of being holy, sacred, or saintly: the site of the tomb was a place of sanctity for the ancient Egyptians...
- He extolled the virtues of Aranda belief, and disdained the modern world that had replaced traditional sanctities.
- ‘What is going on in Najaf and the rest of the Iraqi cities is a violation of sanctities, an aggression on holy sites and shedding of innocent blood that could lead to a vicious civil war,’ he said.
- Among the very oldest sanctities are the human rites of compulsion.
Synonyms
holiness, godliness, sacredness, blessedness, saintliness, sanctitude, spirituality, piety, piousness, devoutness, devotion, righteousness, goodness, virtue, virtuousness, purity
2Ultimate importance and inviolability: the sanctity of human life...
- The sanctity of human life has been sidelined as an irrelevance in the Republic as blindly as in any paramilitary murder in the North.
- The sanctity of human life is the closest thing our culture has to a basic value.
- But they all share the Chancellor's belief in the sanctity of work and importance of rewarding those who toil.
Synonyms
sacrosanctity, ultimate importance, inviolability
rare paramountcy
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'saintliness'): from Old French sainctite, reinforced by Latin sanctitas, from sanctus 'holy'.