Sacred \Sa"cred\, a. [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.
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   2. Relating to religion, or to the services of religion; not
      secular; religious; as, sacred history.
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            Smit with the love of sacred song.    --Milton.
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   3. Designated or exalted by a divine sanction; possessing the
      highest title to obedience, honor, reverence, or
      veneration; entitled to extreme reverence; venerable.
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            Such neighbor nearness to our sacred [royal] blood
            Should nothing privilege him.         --Shak.
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            Poet and saint to thee alone were given,
            The two most sacred names of earth and heaven.
                                                  --Cowley.
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   4. Hence, not to be profaned or violated; inviolable.
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            Secrets of marriage still are sacred held. --Dryden.
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   5. Consecrated; dedicated; devoted; -- with to.
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            A temple, sacred to the queen of love. --Dryden.
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   6. Solemnly devoted, in a bad sense, as to evil, vengeance,
      curse, or the like; accursed; baleful. [Archaic]
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            But, to destruction sacred and devote. --Milton.
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   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. (Zool.) 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 (Zool.) See Scarab.

   Sacred canon. See Canon, n., 3.

   Sacred fish (Zool.), any one of numerous species of
      fresh-water African fishes of the family Mormyridae.
      Several large species inhabit the Nile and were considered
      sacred by the ancient Egyptians; especially Mormyrus
      oxyrhynchus.

   Sacred ibis. See Ibis.

   Sacred monkey. (Zool.)
      (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.
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   Syn: Holy; divine; hallowed; consecrated; dedicated; devoted;
        religious; venerable; reverend.
        [1913 Webster] -- Sa"cred*ly, adv. -- Sa"cred*ness,
        n.
        [1913 Webster] Sacrific

	

	sacred
    adj 1: concerned with religion or religious purposes; "sacred
           texts"; "sacred rites"; "sacred music" [ant: profane,
           secular]
    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 church";
       "the sacred mosque"; "sacred elephants"; "sacred bread and
       wine"; "sanctified wine" [syn: consecrated, sacred,
       sanctified]
    4: worthy of religious veneration; "the sacred name of Jesus";
       "Jerusalem's hallowed soil" [syn: hallowed, sacred]
    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"

	

	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

	

	SACRED
       Securely Available CREDential (RFC 3760)

	

	sacred
 adj.

    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.

	

	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)

	

	SACRED, adj.  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