Sacrament
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A sacred act and the attendant ceremony, considered (theology) an outward sign of divine grace, instituted by Jesus Christ.
"Priest: I'm sorry, it's Duncan Dirk Dick. I've just done it. / Father: Well, undo it. / Priest: Undo it? / Father: Yes. / Priest: This is a holy sacrament of the Church, not a bleeding hotel reservation. You can't just undo it."
- 2 a formal religious ceremony conferring a specific grace on those who receive it; the two Protestant ceremonies are baptism and the Lord's Supper; in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church there are seven traditional rites accepted as instituted by Jesus: baptism and confirmation and Holy Eucharist and penance and holy orders and matrimony and extreme unction wordnet
- 3 The Eucharist.
- 4 The consecrated Eucharist (especially the bread).
- 5 Anything regarded as possessing a sacred character or mysterious significance. broadly
"God ſometimes ſent a light of fire, and pillar of a cloud, and the brightneſſe of an Angel, and the luſtre of a ſtar, and the ſacrament of a rainbovve to guide his people thorovv their portion of ſorrovvs, and to lead them through troubles to reſt: […]"
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- 6 The oath of allegiance taken by soldiers in Ancient Rome; hence, any sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. Ancient-Rome
"I'll take the sacrament on 't."
- 1 To bind by an oath. transitive
Example
More examples"Love must be sanctified by marriage, and this passion becomes criminal if it's not consecrated by a sacrament."
Etymology
From Middle English sacrament, from Old French sacrement, from Ecclesiastical Latin sacrāmentum (“sacrament”), from Latin sacrō (“hallow, consecrate”), from sacer (“sacred, holy”), originally sum deposited by parties to a suit.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.