holy

Meanings

Adjective

• Dedicated to a religious purpose or a god.
• Revered in a religion.
• Morally perfect or flawless, or nearly so.
• Separated or set apart from (something unto something or someone else).
• Set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose, or for use by a single entity or person.
• Used as an intensifier in various interjections.

Noun

• A thing that is extremely holy; used almost exclusively in Holy of Holies.

Related

Similar words

• sacred
• faultless, flawless, perfect
• sanctified
• reserved, special

Opposite words

• profane, secular, unholy, worldly
• damaged, defective, faulty, flawed, imperfect
• common

Origin

• From Middle English holi, hali, from Old English hāliġ, hāleġ, from Proto-West Germanic *hailag, from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz ("holy, bringing health"), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz ("healthy, whole"), from Proto-Indo-European *kóh₂ilus ("healthy, whole"), equivalent to whole + -y.
• Cognate with Scots haly ("holy"), West Frisian hillich ("holy"), Low German hillig ("holy"), Dutch heilig ("holy"), German heilig ("holy"), Danish hellig ("holy"), Swedish helig ("holy"). More at whole.