Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SA'CRED, a. [Fr. sacré; Sp. It. and Port. sacro; from L. sacer, sacred, holy, cursed, damnable; W. segyr, that keeps apart, from sêg, that is without access; segru, to secrete, to separate. We here see the connection between sacredness and secrecy. The sense is, removed or separated from that which is common, vulgar, polluted, or open, public; and accursed is, separated from society or the privileges of citizens, rejected, banished.]

1. Holy; pertaining to God or to his worship; separated from common secular uses and consecrated to God and his service; as, a sacred place; a sacred day; a sacred feast; sacred service; sacred orders.
2. Proceeding from God and containing religious precepts; as, the sacred books of the Old and New Testament.
3. Narrating or writing facts respecting God and holy things; as, a sacred historian.
4. Relating to religion or the worship of God; used for religious purposes; as, sacred songs; sacred music; sacred history.
5. Consecrated; dedicated; devoted; with to. A temple sacred to the queen of love. – Dryden.
6. Entitled to reverence; venerable. Poet and saint, to thee alone were given, / The two most sacred names of earth and heaven. – Cowley.
7. Inviolable, as if appropriated to a superior being; as, sacred honor or promise. Secrets of marriage still are sacred held. – Dryden. Sacred majesty. In this title, sacred has no definite meaning, or it is blasphemy. Sacred place, in the civil law, is that where a deceased person is buried.