sa ‧ cred /ˈseɪkrəd, ˈseɪkrɪd/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: Past participle of sacre 'to make holy' (13-17 centuries) , from Old French sacrer , from Latin sacrare , from sacer 'holy' ]
1 . relating to a god or religion:
a sacred vow
the miraculous powers of sacred relics
Certain animals were considered sacred.
sacred to
The land is sacred to these tribesmen.
2 . very important or greatly respected:
Human life is sacred.
Frontiers which have held for over forty years are no longer sacred.
sacred to
Few things were sacred to Henry, but local history was one of them.
He had no respect for everything I held sacred.
3 . is nothing sacred? spoken used to express shock when something you think is valuable or important is being changed or harmed
—sacredness noun [uncountable] :
the sacredness of human life