What is the Latin word for sacred?

The usual Latin words for “sacred” are sacer, sānctus, dīvīnus; also religiōsus, sacrōsānctus, inviolābilis. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“sacred” in Latin

sacersacred, holy, dedicated (to a divinity), consecrated, hallowed (translating Greek ἱερός); devoted (to a divinity for sac sānctussacred, made inviolable, having been established as sacred.; sanctified or made holy; venerable, august, divine, blessed dīvīnusdivine, of a deity, superhuman, supernatural religiōsuspious, devout, religious; scrupulous; sacred, taboo sacrōsānctusinaugurated or consecrated with religious ceremonies; fixed or decreed as inviolable, sacred, sacrosanct; most holy, sac inviolābilisinviolable, untouchable fidēsfaith; belief (belief without empirical evidence, direct experience, or observation); reliance (act of relying on or tru officiumduty, service, office; obligation, an obligatory service, visit, or gesture; kindness, favor, courtesy asas, a Roman coin originally made of a Roman pound of bronze but later minted from 2, 1, and finally ½ Roman ounces of co

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

sacred

PROP., sacer (opposed to profanus; ἱερός, consecrated): sanctus (under divine guardianship, ὄσιος, not to be violated or polluted, pure, spotless): divinus, religiosus (to be regarded with veneration). A sacred place, locus sacer, religiosus. Sacred groves, luci sacri or sancti. A sacred war, bellum pro religionibus susceptum.

Figuratively, (1) Inviolable, sanctus (e.g., fides, officium); sacrosanctus: inviolabilis (Lucr.). To regard as sacred, sanctum habere aliquid (Nep., Liv.). The persons of the tribunes were sacred at Rome, tribuni plebis Romae sancti (Cic.), or sacrosancti (Liv.), erant. Nothing is more sacred to me than our friendship, nihil est mihi antiquius nostra amicitia. (2) Venerable, sanctus: augustus: venerandus: sollemnis. A sacred day, dies festus ac sollemnis.

Sacred

(applied to places) Sacer, Sacra, Sacrum; as, Sacred Mount, Sacer Mons (m.); Sacred Way, Sacra Via (f.); Sacred Promontory, Sacrum Promontorium (n.). etc

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for sacred?: The usual Latin words for “sacred” are sacer, sānctus, dīvīnus; also religiōsus, sacrōsānctus, inviolābilis. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.