Etymograph

English

sanctity

Sanctity comes from Latin sānctitās ‘inviolability, sacredness, sanctity’, from Proto-Italic *sankiō ‘to consecrate’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- ‘to make sacred’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂k-‘to make sacred’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sankiō‘to consecrate’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*sanktosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsānctus‘sacred, made inviolable, having been established as sacred’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsānctitās‘inviolability, sacredness, sanctity’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sanctete
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sanctity
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1776same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂k-‘to make sacred’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sankiō‘to consecrate’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*sanktosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsānctus‘sacred, made inviolable, having been established as sacred’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsānctitās‘inviolability, sacredness, sanctity’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sanctete
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sanctity
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1776same form

Earliest quotation: 1776, Jeremy Bentham, A Short Review of the Declaration: “Or would they have it believed, that there is…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- ‘to make sacred’

consecration, sacrilege, sacramental, consecrate, 13 more

through Latin sānctus ‘sacred, made inviolable, having been…’

saint, santo, 8 more

Today it means

noun Holiness of life or disposition; saintliness

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- / sanctity

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