6 definitions found From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]: Sacred \Sa"cred\, adjective [Originally p. p. of OE. sacren to consecrate, F. sacrer, fr. L. sacrare, fr. sacer sacred, holy, cursed. Cf. {Consecrate}, {Execrate}, {Saint}, {Sexton}.] 1. Set apart by solemn religious ceremony; especially, in a good sense, made holy; set apart to religious use; consecrated; not profane or common; as, a sacred place; a sacred day; sacred service. 2. Relating to religion, or to the services of religion; not secular; religious; as, sacred history. Smit with the love of sacred song. --Milton. 3. Designated or exalted by a divine sanction; possessing the highest title to obedience, honor, reverence, or veneration; entitled to extreme reverence; venerable. Such neighbor nearness to our sacred [royal] blood Should nothing privilege him. --Shak. Poet and saint to thee alone were given, The two most sacred names of earth and heaven. --Cowley. 4. Hence, not to be profaned or violated; inviolable. Secrets of marriage still are sacred held. --Dryden. 5. Consecrated; dedicated; devoted; -- with to. A temple, sacred to the queen of love. --Dryden. 6. Solemnly devoted, in a bad sense, as to evil, vengeance, curse, or the like; accursed; baleful. [Archaic] But, to destruction sacred and devote. --Milton. {Society of the Sacred Heart} (R.C. Ch.), a religious order of women, founded in France in 1800, and approved in 1826. It was introduced into America in 1817. The members of the order devote themselves to the higher branches of female education. {Sacred baboon}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Hamadryas}. {Sacred bean} (Bot.), a seed of the Oriental lotus ({Nelumbo speciosa} or {Nelumbium speciosum}), a plant resembling a water lily; also, the plant itself. See {Lotus}. {Sacred beetle} (Zo["o]l.) See {Scarab}. {Sacred canon}. See {Canon}, noun, 3. {Sacred fish} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of fresh-water African fishes of the family {Mormyrid[ae]}. Several large species inhabit the Nile and were considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians; especially {Mormyrus oxyrhynchus}. {Sacred ibis}. See {Ibis}. {Sacred monkey}. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any Asiatic monkey of the genus {Semnopithecus}, regarded as sacred by the Hindoos; especially, the entellus. See {Entellus}. (b) The sacred baboon. See {Hamadryas}. (c) The bhunder, or rhesus monkey. {Sacred place} (Civil Law), the place where a deceased person is buried. Syn: Holy; divine; hallowed; consecrated; dedicated; devoted; religious; venerable; reverend. -- {Sa"cred*ly}, adverb -- {Sa"cred*ness}, n. From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]: sacred adjective 1: concerned with religion or religious purposes; "sacred texts"; "sacred rites"; "sacred music" [ant: {profane}] 2: worthy of respect or dedication; "saw motherhood as woman's sacred calling" 3: made or declared or believed to be holy; devoted to a deity or some religious ceremony or use; "a consecrated chursh"; "the sacred mosque"; "sacred elephants"; "sacred bread and wine"; "sanctified wine" [syn: {consecrated}, {sanctified}] 4: worthy of religious veneration; "the sacred name of Jesus"; "Jerusalem's hallowed soil" [syn: {hallowed}] 5: (often followed by 'to') devoted exclusively to a single use or purpose or person; "a fund sacred to charity"; "a morning hour sacred to study"; "a private office sacred to the President" From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]: 114 Moby Thesaurus words for "sacred": all-knowing, all-powerful, all-seeing, all-wise, almighty, alto, angelic, awe-inspiring, awesome, awful, baritone, bass, blessed, boundless, bravura, ceremonial, changeless, cherished, choral, choric, churchly, coloratura, consecrated, creating, creative, dedicated, defended, divine, dramatic, ecclesiastical, eternal, eternally the same, everlasting, falsetto, glorious, godly, good, guarded, hallowed, heavenly, heroic, hieratic, highest, holy, hymnal, immortal, immune, immutable, ineffable, inenarrable, inexpressible, infinite, inviolable, inviolate, just, limitless, liturgical, loving, luminous, lyric, majestic, making, merciful, numinous, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, one, operatic, permanent, perpetual, priestly, protected, psalmic, psalmodial, psalmodic, radiant, religious, revered, ritual, sacramental, sacrosanct, sainted, saintly, sanctified, shaping, shielded, singing, solemn, soprano, sovereign, spiritual, supreme, tenor, the holy, the ineffable, the inenarrable, the inexpressible, the numinous, the unspeakable, the unutterable, timeless, treble, ubiquitous, unbounded, unchanging, undefined, unlimited, unspeakable, untouchable, unutterable, venerable, venerated, vocal From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]: sacred adjective Reserved for the exclusive use of something (an extension of the standard meaning). Often means that anyone may look at the sacred object, but clobbering it will screw whatever it is sacred to. The comment "Register 7 is sacred to the interrupt handler" appearing in a program would be interpreted by a hacker to mean that if any _other_ part of the program changes the contents of register 7, dire consequences are likely to ensue. From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]: sacred Reserved for exclusive use by something. The term might mean only writable by whatever it is sacred to. For example, "Register 7 is sacred to the interrupt handler" would mean that if any other code changed the contents of register 7, dire consequences would ensue. [{Jargon File}] (2002-12-30) From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]: SACRED, adjective Dedicated to some religious purpose; having a divine character; inspiring solemn thoughts or emotions; as, the Dalai Lama of Thibet; the Moogum of M'bwango; the temple of Apes in Ceylon; the Cow in India; the Crocodile, the Cat and the Onion of ancient Egypt; the Mufti of Moosh; the hair of the dog that bit Noah, etc. All things are either sacred or profane. The former to ecclesiasts bring gain; The latter to the devil appertain. Dumbo Omohundro

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