Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Sanctify?

\Sanc"ti*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Sanctified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sanctifying}.] [F. sanctifier, L. sanctificare; sanctus holy + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See {Saint}, and {-fy}.] 1. To make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or religious use; to consecrate by appropriate rites; to hallow. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. --Gen. ii. 3. Moses . . . sanctified Aaron and his garments. --Lev. viii. 30. 2. To make free from sin; to cleanse from moral corruption and pollution; to purify. Sanctify them through thy truth. --John xvii. 17. 3. To make efficient as the means of holiness; to render productive of holiness or piety. A means which his mercy hath sanctified so to me as to make me repent of that unjust act. --Eikon Basilike. 4. To impart or impute sacredness, venerableness, inviolability, title to reverence and respect, or the like, to; to secure from violation; to give sanction to. The holy man, amazed at what he saw, Made haste to sanctify the bliss by law. --Dryden. Truth guards the poet, sanctifies the line. --Pope.