English Explanatory Dictionary

saint

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A deceased person whom a church or another religious group has officially recognised as especially holy or godly; one eminent for piety and virtue.
  2. One of the blessed in heaven.
  3. A Christian; a faithful believer in the present world.
  4. Alternative letter-case form of Saint (“a Mormon, a Latter-day Saint”).
  5. A person with similarly overwhelming positive qualities; one who does good.
  6. A holy object.
verb
  1. Synonym of canonize: to honor, formally name, or revere as a saint.
prefix
  1. Capitalized and placed before another term, particularly personal names, to create placename without direct association to any religious character.
noun
  1. A title given to a saint, often prefixed to the person's name.
  2. A Latter-day Saint, a Mormon.
  3. Someone connected with any of the sports teams known as the Saints, such as a player or coach, or sometimes a fan.
  4. Saint class, a class of steam locomotives used on the GWR.
name
  1. A surname.
name
  1. A nickname, given to someone of very good character.
  2. A nickname, given to someone of extreme religiosity.

Pronunciation

/seɪnt/ en-us-saint.ogg /sən(t)/ [sn̩(t)] [sɨn(t)] /sɛnt/ en-uk-saint-compound.ogg /sənt/

Word forms

saint saints St St. sainting sainted the Saint

Etymology

From Middle English saint, seint, sainct, seinct, sanct, senct, partly from Old English sanct (“saint”) and confluence with Old French saint, seinte (Modern French saint); both from Latin sānctus (“holy, consecrated”, in Late Latin as a noun, “a saint”), past participle of sancīre (“to render sacred, make holy”), akin to sacer (“holy, sacred”). Doublet of Sanctus. Displaced native Middle English halwe (“saint”) from Old English hālga (“saint, holy one”) (> Modern English hallow (“saint”)).

Synonyms

hallow canonize St St. S S. SS SS.

Related words

Santa hallow holy

Derived words

the lists of derived terms at Saint and St All Saints besaint blacke-saint folk saint fool-saint Gulf of Saint Lawrence military saint narco-saint patience of a saint patron saint plaster saint Saint Andrew Saint Aubin saintdom saintess saintful sainthead Saint Helier sainthood saintish saintism Saint-Jérôme Saint Johnstown Saint Joseph Saint-Lambert saintless saintlike saintling saintly Saint-Maurice Saint Michael saintology Saint Peter saintship sainty Sunday saint Theddlethorpe All Saints unsaint Wainfleet All Saints Saint Anthony's nut Saint Elias Mountains Saint-Florentin Saint Grottlesex Saint-Hyacinthe Saint Ignatius Saint-John Saint Kitts Saint Lucia Saint-Michel-de-Chaillol Saint Petersburg Saint Sampson Saint-Véran
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