Etymology From Middle English holynesse, holinesse, halinesse, from Old English hāliġnes (“holiness, a holy thing, rites”), from Proto-West Germanic *hailagnassī, equivalent to holy + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian hilligens (“holiness”), Old High German heilagnissi, heilīgnissi (“holiness”), whence Middle High German heilignis (“halidom”).
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The state or condition of being holy.
R. Moskowitz charges cisgender readers to be as conscious and deliberate with our religious identities as transgender and gender non-conforming people are with theirs, arguing that holiness is only achieved through continuous and unrelenting struggle and change.2019, Rachel Timoner, “Book Review: Textual Activism by Rabbi Mike Moskowitz”, in Tikkun:
“Through the Sacraments, God shares his holiness with us so that we, in turn, can make the world holier,” the conference says on its website.2022 February 14, Chuck Johnston and Steve Almasy, “A pastor baptized people for decades using one wrong word. Now those are all considered invalid”, in CNN:
Used in connection with His or Your to address the leader of some religious traditions, notably the pope.
Your Holiness
Currently he is a firm pillar that is supporting the Tibetan diaspora, holding them all together—but I worry about what will happen to Tibetans when His Holiness leaves his current body.2021, The Extraordinary Life of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama: An Illuminated Journey, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 47: