— sacrilegiously , adv. — sacrilegiousness , n.
/sak'reuh lij"euhs, -lee"jeuhs/ , adj.
1. pertaining to or involving sacrilege: sacrilegious practices.
2. guilty of sacrilege: a sacrilegious person.
[ 1400-50; late ME sacrilegiose; see SACRILEGE, -OUS ]
Pronunciation . The almost universal pronunciation of SACRILEGIOUS as /sak'reuh lij"euhs/ is the result of folk etymology - modifying the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word so that it conforms to a more familiar one - in this case religious. Etymologically, SACRILEGIOUS has no direct relationship to religious. The historical pronunciation /sak'reuh lee"jeuhs/ occurs in American English, though not in British English, and criticism of the newer pronunciation has almost disappeared.