holy
adjectiveinterjectionnouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈhəʊli//
- United States//ˈhoʊli//
Dedicated to a religious purpose or a god.
adjective
- 1
Dedicated to a religious purpose or a god.
I'm planning to visit the holy city of Jerusalem this Christmas.
... where he and Basil read together poems and philosophies, and holier things, or talked low and misopogonistcally of their fellow-student Julian’s bearded boding smile were his happiest days.
The growing sense that more and more religious Jews are now worshiping openly at the holy site was given support by a report over the weekend on Israel’s Channel 12, which broadcast footage of Jewish prayer sessions and Torah lessons it said were being held there daily.
“Through the Sacraments, God shares his holiness with us so that we, in turn, can make the world holier,” the conference says on its website.
- 2
Revered in a religion.
This tree is considered holy in my culture.
- 3
Morally perfect or flawless, or nearly so.
My grandmother is a very holy woman.
- 4
Separated or set apart from (something unto something or someone else).
- 5
Set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose, or for use by a single entity or person.
- 6
slangUsed as an intensifier in various interjections.
Holy cow, I can’t believe he actually lost the race!
Those children next door are holy terrors!
Holy mackerel
Etymology
From Middle English ali, aly, hale, halege, hali, halȝe, hayly, holi, holia, holie, holiȝ, holy, hooly, oli, oly, wholy, woly, from Old English hāleġ, hāliġ (“holy, sacred; healthy, sound”), from Proto-West Germanic *hailag, from Proto-Germanic *hailagaz (“holy, sacred”), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“healthy; whole”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos (“intact, whole; complete; hale, healthy, sound”), equivalent to whole + -y and a doublet of later wholly. Cognates Cognate with Scots halie, haly (“holy”), Yola holly, holy (“holy”), Saterland Frisian helig (“holy”), Alemannic German, Dutch, and German heilig (“holy, sacred”), Cimbrian hòolig (“holy”), Luxembourgish helleg (“holy”), Vilamovian haeliḱ, haliky, hȧlikjy, hǡliḱ (“holy”), Yiddish הייליק (heylik, “holy”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hellig (“holy”), Faroese heilagur (“holy”), Icelandic heilagur, helgur (“holy”), Norwegian Nynorsk heilag, heilag’u (“holy”), Swedish helig (“holy”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌲𐍃 (hailags, “holy”); also Latin cael, caelus, caelum, coelus, coelum (“heaven; sky; climate, weather”), Belarusian цэ́лы (cély, “entire, whole”), Bulgarian цял (cjal, “entire, full, intact, whole; real, regular, veritable”), Czech and Slovak celý (“whole”), Macedonian цел (cel, “entire, whole”), Polish cały (“entire, whole”), Russian це́лый (célyj, “entire, whole”), Serbo-Croatian це̏о, ци̏јел, ци̏о, cȅo, cȉjel, cȉo (“entire, whole”), Slovene cel (“whole”), Ukrainian ці́лий (cílyj, “entire, whole”). More at whole.
interjection
- 1
slangAn expression of astonishment and awe.
noun
- 1
archaicA thing that is extremely holy; used almost exclusively in Holy of Holies.
The holy of holies, a cubical space of ten cubits on the side, was separated from the larger antechamber by four columns, which were also covered with gold and stood upon silver sockets; they bore a second curtain of four colors.
Forms
- plural
- holies
- comparative
- holier
- superlative
- holiest