sacrament

Borrowed from Old French sacrement, from Ecclesiastical Latin sacrāmentum (“sacrament”), from Latin sacrō (“hallow, consecrate”), from sacer (“sacred, holy”), originally sum deposited by parties to a suit.

sacrament (plural sacraments)

1. (Christianity) A sacred act or ceremony in Christianity. In Catholic theology, a sacrament is defined as "an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace."
2. (in particular) The Eucharist.
3. The consecrated Eucharist (especially the bread).
4. A thing which is regarded as possessing a sacred character or mysterious significance.
   • Jeremy Taylor

     God sometimes sent a light of fire, and pillar of a cloud […] and the sacrament of a rainbow, to guide his people through their portion of sorrows.

5. The oath of allegiance taken by soldiers in Ancient Rome; hence, any sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath.
   • Shakespeare

     I'll take the sacrament on 't.

sacrament (third-person singular simple present sacraments, present participle sacramenting, simple past and past participle sacramented)

1. (transitive) To bind by an oath.

• Catholic and Eastern churches have seven sacraments: baptism; confirmation; communion, Mass, or Eucharist; penance; extreme unction (Anointing of the Sick, last rites); holy orders / ordination; and matrimony.
• Protestant churches list two sacraments: baptism and Lord's Supper.
• Eucharistic liturgy
• Holy Eucharist
• Holy Sacrament
• Liturgy
• Lord's Supper
• sacrament on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

From Old French sacrament, from Ecclesiastical Latin sacrāmentum (“sacrament”), from Latin sacrō (“hallow, consecrate”), from sacer (“sacred, holy”), originally sum deposited by parties to a suit.

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sa‧cra‧ment
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

sacrament n (plural sacramenten)

1. (Christianity) sacrament