sanctuary

 
Pronunciation: /ˈsaŋ(k)tjʊəri/

noun (plural sanctuaries)

  • 1 [mass noun] refuge or safety from pursuit, persecution, or other danger: his sons took sanctuary in the church [count noun]: she thought of her room as a sanctuary
  • 2a nature reserve: a bird sanctuary
  • a place where injured or unwanted animals of a specified kind are cared for: a donkey sanctuary
  • 3a holy place; a temple: the sanctuaries of Apollo and Athena
  • the inmost recess or holiest part of a temple: the inner sanctuary where the reliquary was kept
  • the part of the chancel of a church containing the high altar.

Origin:

Middle English (in sanctuary (sense 3)): from Old French sanctuaire, from Latin sanctuarium, from sanctus 'holy'. Early use in reference to a church or other sacred place where a fugitive was immune, by the law of the medieval Church, from arrest, gave rise to sanctuary (sense 1), sanctuary (sense 2)