[sac.ra.ment] n [ME sacrement, sacrament, fr. OF & LL; OF, fr. LL sacramentum, fr. L, oath of allegiance, obligation, fr. sacrare to consecrate] (13c) 1 a: a Christian rite (as baptism or the Eucharist) that is believed to have been ordained by Christ and that is held to be a means of divine grace or to be a sign or symbol of a spiritual reality b: a religious rite or observance comparable to a Christian sacrament
2. cap a: communion 2a b: blessed sacrament
3: something likened to a religious sacrament "saw voting as a ~ of democracy"