sanctuary

English

From Middle English seyntuarie, from Old French saintuaire, from Late Latin sanctuarium (“a sacred place, a shrine, a private cabinet, in Medieval Latin also temple, church, churchyard, cemetery, right of asylum”), from Latin sanctus (“holy, sacred”); see saint.

sanctuary (countable and uncountable, plural sanctuaries)

A place of safety, refuge, or protection.
My car is a sanctuary, where none can disturb me except for people who cut me off.
- 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Last Night with the Dead”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 315:
  She saw him, even as she had last gazed upon him, pale, cold, and awful; but still he was there. The coffin was to her like a shrine; all that she held most dear and most precious was within its dark and silent sanctuary.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
  ‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War. […]’
- 1985 February 9, “Political Asylum Demand”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 29, page 2:
  In January, federal agents indicted 16 sanctuary leaders from Texas and Arizona on charges of helping to harbor illegal immigrants from Central America.
An area set aside for protection.
The bird sanctuary has strict restrictions on visitors so the birds aren't disturbed.
A state of being protected, asylum.
The government granted sanctuary to the defector, protecting him from his former government.
The consecrated (or sacred) area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.

Synonyms of sanctuary

place of safety or protection

Afrikaans: vryplaas, toevlugsoord
Bulgarian: светилище (bg) n (svetilište)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 避難所 / 避难所 (zh) (bìnànsuǒ)
Czech: útočiště (cs) n
Danish: helle n, fristed n, tilflugtssted n
Estonian: pühamu (et), varjupaik
Finnish: turvapaikka (fi)
French: refuge (fr) m
German: Zuflucht (de) f, Herberge (de) f
Greek: καταφύγιο (el) n (katafýgio)
Ancient: ἄσυλον n (ásulon)
Hebrew : מקלט (he) m miklat, מפלט (he) m miflat, מסתור (he) m mistor, מחסה (he) n makhasse
Hungarian: szentély (hu)
Irish: tearmann m
Italian: rifugio (it) m
Japanese: 避難所 (ja) (ひなんじょ, hinanjo)
Latin: tūtum n
Macedonian: засо́лниште n (zasólnište), прибе́жиште n (pribéžište)
Maori: wāhi whakaruru, whakamaurutanga, punanga, kāinga punanga (Referring to a settlement)
Middle English: grith
Norwegian:
Bokmål: tilfluktssted n, asyl n, fristed n

Nynorsk: tilfluktsstad m, asyl n, fristad m
Old Church Slavonic: оубѣжище n (uběžište)
Old English: friþstōw f
Polish: sanktuarium (pl) n
Portuguese: refúgio (pt) m
Romanian: sanctuar (ro) n, refugiu (ro) n, adăpost (ro) n
Russian: убе́жище (ru) n (ubéžišče), прибе́жище (ru) n (pribéžišče), прию́т (ru) m (prijút)
Scottish Gaelic: tèarmann m
Swedish: fristad (sv) c, tillflykt (sv) c, tillflyktsort (sv) c
Tocharian B: waste, śarāṃ
Turkish: mabet (tr)
Ukrainian: приту́лок (uk) m (prytúlok)

area set aside for protection

Afrikaans: toevlugsoord, hawe
Bulgarian: резерват m (rezervat)
Estonian: varjupaik
Finnish: rauhoitusalue, suojelualue
French: réserve (fr) f
Greek: καταφύγιο (el) n (katafýgio)
Ancient: ἄσυλον n (ásulon)
Hebrew: שמורה (he) m shmurá
Hungarian: menedékhely (hu), védett terület
Indonesian: suaka (id)
Irish: tearmann m
Latin: sacrarium n, fanum n
Macedonian: резерва́т m (rezervát)
Maori: wāhi rāhui, whenua rāhui
Middle English: grith
Norwegian: reservat (no) n
Old English: friþstōw f
Polish: sanktuarium (pl) n
Portuguese: santuário (pt) m
Romanian: rezervație (ro) f
Russian: запове́дник (ru) m (zapovédnik), зака́зник (ru) m (zakáznik), резерва́ция (ru) f (rezervácija)

state of being protected

consecrated area