From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sanctify \Sanc"ti*fy\, verb (used with an object) [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.
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