adjective
- regarded as holy; venerated; sacred: Hallowed be Thy name; the hallowed saints; our hallowed political institutions.
verb (used with object)
- to make holy; sanctify; consecrate.
- to honor as holy; consider sacred; venerate: to hallow a battlefield.
interjection, noun, verb (used with or without object)
adjective
- set apart as sacred
- consecrated or holy
verb (tr)
- to consecrate or set apart as being holy
- to venerate as being holy
Old English halgian “to make holy, to honor as holy, consecrate, ordain,” related to halig “holy,” from Proto-Germanic *hailaga- (cf. Old Saxon helagon, Middle Dutch heligen, Old Norse helga), from PIE root *kailo- “whole, uninjured, of good omen” (see health). Used in Christian translations to render Latin sanctificare. Also used since Old English as a noun meaning “holy person, saint.” Related: Hallowed; hallowing.