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)/, /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 sanctus (“holy, consecrated”, in Late Latin as a noun, “a saint”), past participle of sancire (“to render sacred, make holy”), akin to sacer (“holy, sacred”). Displaced native Middle English halwe (“saint”) from Old English hālga (“saint, holy one”) (> Modern English hallow (“saint”)).

Noun

saint (plural saints)

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

   Kateri Tekakwitha was proclaimed a saint.
2. (figuratively, by extension) A person with positive qualities; one who does good.

   Dorothy Day was a living saint.

   Thanks for looking after the house while I'm away. You're a saint!

3. One of the blessed in heaven.
4. (archaic) A holy object.

Synonyms

• (holy person): hallow (obsolete)

Derived 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) To canonize, to formally recognize someone as a saint.

   Many wish to see Pope John Paul II sainted immediately.

Translations

Etymology 3

From the pattern of naming various places for Saints from religion.

Prefix

saint

1. (toponymy) A prefix attached to another term, used to create placenames. The resultant placename need not be associated with any religious saint character.

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

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

French

Etymology

From Latin sanctus (“holy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ̃/, (in liaison) /sɛ̃.t‿/
• 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

Etymology

From Old Irish sant, of unknown origin. DIL connects it with Welsh chwant (“desire”), but the Old Irish cognate of that word is actually sét (“treasure”). The ant sequence suggests a late loanword into Goidelic.

Pronunciation

• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /sˠɪn̠ʲtʲ/

Noun

saint f (genitive singular sainte)

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

Declension

Synonyms

• cíocras, gabhálacht (“avarice”)

Mutation

References

Further reading

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “sant”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• 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 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