sanctuary
nounUK /ˈsæŋktjʊəɹi/ · US /ˈsæŋkt͡ʃuˌɛɹi/
Etymology From Middle English seyntuarie, from Old French saintuaire, from Late Latin sanctuarium (“a sacred place, a shrine, a private cabinet, in Medieval Latin also temple, church, churchyard, cemetery, right of asylum”), from Latin sanctus (“holy, sacred”); see saint.
1
A place of safety, refuge, or protection.
- My car is a sanctuary, where none can disturb me except for people who cut me off.
- She saw him, even as she had last gazed upon him, pale, cold, and awful; but still he was there. The coffin was to her like a shrine; all that she held most dear and most precious was within its dark and silent sanctuary.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Last Night with the Dead”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 315:
2 more examples
- ‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War.[…]’1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- In January, federal agents indicted 16 sanctuary leaders from Texas and Arizona on charges of helping to harbor illegal immigrants from Central America.1985 February 9, “Political Asylum Demand”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 29, page 2:
2
An area set aside for protection.
- The bird sanctuary has strict restrictions on visitors so the birds aren't disturbed.
3
A state of being protected, asylum.
- The government granted sanctuary to the defector, protecting him from his former government.
4
The consecrated (or sacred) area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.
- Near-synonym: chancel (broadly synonymous)