Sanctify \Sanc"ti*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sanctified; p. pr.
& vb. n. Sanctifying.]
[F. sanctifier, L. sanctificare;
sanctus holy + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Saint, and
-fy.]
1. To make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or
religious use; to consecrate by appropriate rites; to
hallow.
God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.
--Gen. ii. 3.
Moses . . . sanctified Aaron and his garments.
--Lev. viii.
30.
2. To make free from sin; to cleanse from moral corruption
and pollution; to purify.
Sanctify them through thy truth. --John xvii.
17.
3. To make efficient as the means of holiness; to render
productive of holiness or piety.
A means which his mercy hath sanctified so to me as
to make me repent of that unjust act. --Eikon
Basilike.
4. To impart or impute sacredness, venerableness,
inviolability, title to reverence and respect, or the
like, to; to secure from violation; to give sanction to.
The holy man, amazed at what he saw, Made haste to
sanctify the bliss by law. --Dryden.
Truth guards the poet, sanctifies the line. --Pope.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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