sanctify

UK/ˈsæŋk.tɪ.faɪ/

sanctify verb: to make holy; to consecrate; to set aside for sacred or ceremonial use.

Verb

sanctify (third-person singular simple present sanctifies, present participle sanctifying, simple past and past participle sanctified)

(transitive) To make holy; to consecrate; to set aside for sacred or ceremonial use.
- And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 2:3
Synonyms:

consecrate
(transitive) To free from sin; to purify.
- And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 6:11
- Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 5:25-26
Synonyms:

cleanse, purify
(transitive) To make acceptable or useful under religious law or practice.
- For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 4:4-5
(transitive) To endorse with religious sanction.

sanctify meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

sanctify in Tamil

படுத்து, தூயதாக்கு

sanctify in Urdu

تقدیس کرنا

sanctify in Malayalam

പാവനമാക്കുക, പാപമോചനം കൊടുക്കുക, പവിത്രീകരിക്കുക, അനുശാസിക്കുക

sanctify in Kannada

ಮದಿಪುಕೊಡು, ಪವಿತ್ರೀಕರಿಸು, ಪೂಜ್ಯಗೊಳಿಸು, ಶುದ್ಧಗೊಳಿಸು, ಪುಣ್ಯಾಹ ಮಾಡು, ಧರ್ಮ ಸಮ್ಮತ ಮಾಡು

Examples of sanctify in a sentence

In Roman Catholic theology, sanctifying grace is considered to be a supernatural addition to human nature.
The laws of ona'ah (overcharging) and eifat tzedek (accurate weights and measures) sanctify business.
EST was widely criticized for sanctifying selfishness and for abrasive and traumatic training sessions.

All 10 example sentences with sanctify

Synonyms of sanctify

Antonyms

profane

Forms of sanctify

third-person singular present	sanctifies
present participle	sanctifying
past participle	sanctified
past	sanctified

Past tense of sanctify: sanctified

Origin of sanctify

From Anglo-Norman seintefier, from Old French saintefier, from Late Latin sānctificō, from Latin sānctus (“holy”) + faciō (“do, make”). Form altered to conform with Latin.

Words formed from sanctify

Questions about sanctify

What does sanctify mean?: Sanctify means to make holy; to consecrate; to set aside for sacred or ceremonial use.
What is sanctify in Tamil?: Sanctify in Tamil is படுத்து, தூயதாக்கு. See Sanctify meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is sanctify?: Sanctify is a verb.
How do you pronounce sanctify?: Sanctify is pronounced /ˈsæŋk.tɪ.faɪ/ (UK).
What is the past tense of sanctify?: The past tense of sanctify is sanctified.

Words near sanctify in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: sanctify (page history and authors); sanctify (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sanctify (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sanctify (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sanctify (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-sanctify.ogg, en-au-sanctify.ogg.

Cite this entry: “sanctify.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sanctify. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.