sanctuarium

Latin

Etymology

Possibly sanctus (“holy”) +‎ -ārium (improperly for an adjective), via *sanctuārius, (relating to sanctity). But the u, which is unexpected for the second declension, makes this doubtful. The Late Latin noun sanctus post-dates sanctuārium by several centuries.

Noun

sānctuārium n (genitive sānctuāriī or sānctuārī); second declension

prince's lockbox
(Late Latin) shrine, sanctuary
(Late Latin) relics of a saint; a case for such relics

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	sānctuārium	sānctuāria
genitive	sānctuāriī sānctuārī¹	sānctuāriōrum
dative	sānctuāriō	sānctuāriīs
accusative	sānctuārium	sānctuāria
ablative	sānctuāriō	sānctuāriīs
vocative	sānctuārium	sānctuāria

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Descendants

Catalan: santuari
English: sanctuary
French: sanctuaire
Italian: santuario
Old Galician-Portuguese: santuairo
→ Galician: santuario
→ Portuguese: santuário
Piedmontese: santuari
Polish: sanktuarium
Romanian: sanctuar
Spanish: santuario

References

“sanctuarium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
sanctuarium in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
sanctuarium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.