Etymograph

English

shrine

Shrine comes from Old English scrīn ‘reliquary, ark of the covenant’, and goes back to Medieval Latin scrīnium.

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500scrīnium‘reliquary’
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150scrīn‘reliquary, ark of the covenant’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shryne
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1667shrine

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500scrīnium‘reliquary’
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150scrīn‘reliquary, ark of the covenant’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shryne
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1667shrine

Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book VI: “Shrined in his sanctuary.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to turn, bend’

across, short, card, cross, share, cancer, screen, score, circle, circuit, shirt, crucial, curve, scare, circus, circulation, skirt, carnival, curb, scar, cancellation, crest, circa, scrutiny, corona, scorpion, carnage, incarceration, raffle, circulate, corolla, shear, scorn, crux, carnal, carcinoma, cirque, circulatory, crepe, carnivorous, 119 more

Today it means

noun 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.

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

Etymograph / Medieval Latin scrīnium / shrine

Shirt and support for this word