saint

English Online Dictionary. What means saint‎? What does saint mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seɪnt/
  • Rhymes: -eɪnt
• (UK, as an unstressed, capitalised title) IPA^(key): /sən(t)/, [sn̩(t)], [sɨn(t)]

Etymology 1

From Middle English saint, seint, sainct, seinct, sanct, senct, partly from Old English sanct (“saint”) and confluence with Old French saint, seinte (Modern French saint); both from Latin sānctus (“holy, consecrated”, in Late Latin as a noun, “a saint”), past participle of sancīre (“to render sacred, make holy”), akin to sacer (“holy, sacred”). Doublet of Sanctus. Displaced native Middle English halwe (“saint”) from Old English hālga (“saint, holy one”) (> Modern English hallow (“saint”)).

Noun

saint (plural saints)

1. (religion, generally) A deceased person whom a church or another religious group has officially recognised as especially holy or godly; one eminent for piety and virtue.

2. (Christianity) One of the blessed in heaven.
3. (Christianity) A Christian; a faithful believer in the present world.
4. (Mormonism, specifically) Alternative letter-case form of Saint (“a Mormon, a Latter-day Saint”)
5. (figuratively, by extension) A person with similarly overwhelming positive qualities; one who does good.

6. (archaic) A holy object.

Alternative forms

• (holy person): St, St.

Synonyms

• (holy person): hallow (obsolete)

Hyponyms

• (holy person): holy man (male, nondenominational); arhat (Buddhism); sage (East Asia and philosophical sects); immortal (Taoism); wali (Islamic saint); casis (Islamic saint, historical); sultan (Turkish Sufi saint); martyr (person revered for sacrificing their life for a cause, sometimes inclusive of secular reverence by nations or political parties); confessor (Christian saints other than martyrs); san (male Christian saint in Spanish contexts, usu. as a title); santa (female Christian saint in Spanish contexts, usu. as a title); sainte (female Christian saint in French contexts, usu. as a title)

Derived terms

See also the lists of derived terms at Saint and St

Related terms

Translations

See also

• hallow, holos, holy

Etymology 2

From Middle English saynten, seinten, sonten, partly from Anglo-Norman saintir and partly from the noun Middle English seint, seynt (see above).

Verb

saint (third-person singular simple present saints, present participle sainting, simple past and past participle sainted)

1. (transitive) Synonym of canonize: to honor, formally name, or revere as a saint.

Translations

Etymology 3

From the pattern of naming various parishes and other places for Christian saints.

Prefix

saint

1. (toponymy) Capitalized and placed before another term, particularly personal names, to create placename without direct association to any religious character.

Usage notes

May be used for either male or female names. May be combined with the other word using a hyphen, particularly following French examples.

Alternative forms

• St, St.

Coordinate terms

• san (male only); sainte, santa (female only)

Further reading

• “saint”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “saint”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• stain, stian, Sinta, Natsi, tians, insta-, Tians, Astin, Santi, tisan, satin, sat in, naits, Insta, Tanis, antis

French

Etymology

From Latin sanctus (“holy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ̃/, (in liaison) /sɛ̃.t‿/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /sẽ/
• Rhymes: -ɛ̃
• Homophones: sain, sains, saints, sein, seing, seings, seins, ceins, ceint, ceints

Noun

saint m (plural saints, feminine sainte)

1. a male saint; masculine of sainte

Adjective

saint (feminine sainte, masculine plural saints, feminine plural saintes)

1. saintly (all meanings)

Derived terms

- in Belgian toponyms:

- in Canadian toponyms:

- In French toponyms:

- In toponyms of French Guiana:

- In Guadeloupean toponyms:

- In Italian toponyms:

- In toponyms of Martinique:

- In toponyms of Réunion:

- In Swiss toponyms:

Further reading

• “saint”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• tians

Irish

Alternative forms

• sainnt (superseded)

Etymology

From Old Irish sant, of uncertain origin; cognate with Manx saynt and Scottish Gaelic sannt. Possibly borrowed from Proto-Brythonic *hwant (the source of Welsh chwant (“desire”)), from Proto-Celtic *swantos, provided the borrowing happened before *s became *h in Brythonic but after *ant became *ēdd in Goidelic, as the inherited Old Irish descendant of *swantos is sét (whence séad (“a valuable”) and seoid (“jewel”)). Against this hypothesis is the fact that Old Irish sét and Welsh chwant are masculine, while Old Irish sant and its descendants are feminine.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /sˠɑinʲtʲ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /sˠɪn̠ʲtʲ/

Noun

saint f (genitive singular sainte)

1. greed, avarice, covetousness
2. great eagerness, desire

Declension

Synonyms

• cíocras, gabhálacht (“avarice”)

Derived terms

• santach

Mutation

References

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “sainnt”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 588
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “saint”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Norman

Etymology

From Old French saint, from Latin sanctus (“holy”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

saint m

1. (Jersey) holy

Noun

saint m (plural saints)

1. (Jersey, religion) saint

Old French

Alternative forms

• sanct (rare)
• saent (rare)
• seint (common, chiefly Anglo-Norman)

Etymology

Latin sanctus

Noun

saint oblique singular, m (oblique plural sainz or saintz, nominative singular sainz or saintz, nominative plural saint)

1. saint

Declension

Adjective

saint m (oblique and nominative feminine singular sainte)

1. holy
2. pious; devout

Descendants

• → English: saint
• French: saint
• Norman: saint (Jersey)

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sai̯nt/

Noun

saint m pl (not mutable)

1. plural of sant