# sacrum
## English
### Etymology

From Latin os sacrum (“holy bone”), a calque of Ancient Greek ἱερὸν ὀστέον (hieròn ostéon). Apparently so called either because the sacrum was the part of the animal offered in sacrifice or because of a putative belief that it is where a person's soul resides. A third explanation is that the term is a translation of Ancient Greek ἱερόν (hierón), which has two meanings: “holy, sacred”, and “big” — big being a more appropriate description of the sacrum — but compare.

### Pronunciation

* Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Noun

sacrum (plural sacra or sacrums)
* (anatomy) A large triangular bone at the base of the spine, located between the two ilia (wings of the pelvis) and formed from vertebrae that fuse in adulthood.
    Synonym: (obsolete) holy bone

#### Derived terms

* sacral

#### Related terms

* nomen sacrum

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ Voss, Herrlinger, Taschenbuch der Anatomie
* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “sacrum”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Anagrams

* Marcus

## Latin
### Alternative forms

* sacrom (Old Latin)

### Etymology

From sacer (“sacred, holy”).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈsa.krum/, [ˈs̠äkrʊ̃ˑ]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈsa.krum/, [ˈsäːkrum]

### Noun

sacrum n (genitive sacrī); second declension
* A holy or sacred object, e.g. statue, image, emblem, vessel, utensil.
** 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.293:“‘Sacra suōsque tibī commendat Troia penātēs.’”[Aeneas dreams that Hector tells him:] “‘Troy entrusts to you her sacred objects and household gods.’”
* A holy or sacred place, e.g. sanctuary, shrine, temple.
* A religious act or observance, e.g. a sacrifice, festival, rite.
** 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.50:“Tū modo posce deōs veniam, sacrīsque litātīs, [...].”“You have only to ask the gods for their pardon, and after you have propitiated them with sacrifices, [...].” (In other words, Anna assumes that these sacrificial rites will earn Dido a favorable divine response.)
* Divine worship or religion.
** c. 54-51 B.C.E., Cicero, De re publica, 2.7.13
    quo foedere et Sabinos in civitatem adscivit sacris conmunicatis et regnum suum cum illorum rege sociavit
       By this compact he admitted the Sabines into the city, gave them a participation in the religious ceremonies, and divided his power with their king.
* The private religious rites of a family.
** c. 51 B.C.E., Cicero, De Legibus, 2.9.22
    sacra privata perpetua manento
       Let private devotions be perpetually practised.
* (only in plural) Poems (as sacred to the muse).
** c. 8-18 AD, Ovid, Tristia, 4.10.19
    at mihi iam puero caelestia sacra placebant inque suum furtim Musa trahebat opus
       But even as a boy the heavenly poems delighted me, and the Muse was drawing me secretly to her work.
* (only in plural, post-Augustan) Secrets, mysteries.
** 8 AD, Ovid, Metamorphoses, 7.709
    sacra tori coitusque novos thalamosque recentes primaque deserti referebam foedera lecti
       I told Aurora of our wedding secrets and all refreshing mysteries of coition – and my first union on my now-deserted couch.

#### Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

### Adjective

sacrum
* inflection of sacer:
** nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular
** accusative masculine singular

#### Related terms

* sacer
* sacerdōs
* sacerdōtālis
* sacerdōtium
* sacerdōtula
* sacrāmentālis
* sacrāmentum
* sacrārium
* sacrārius
* sacrātē
* sacrātiō
* sacrātor
* sacricola
* sacrifer
* sacrificālis
* sacrificātiō
* sacrificātor
* sacrificātus
* sacrificiolus
* sacrificium
* sacrificō
* sacrificulus
* sacrificus
* sacrilegē
* sacrilegium
* sacrilegus
* sacrō
* sacrōsanctus

### References

* “sacrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “sacrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* "sacrum", 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)
* sacrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co. to be present at divine service (of the people): sacris adesse to be initiated into the mysteries of a cult: sacris initiari (Quintil. 12. 10. 14) (ambiguous) ritual; ceremonial: sacra, res divinae, religiones, caerimoniae (ambiguous) to sacrifice: sacra, sacrificium facere (ἱερὰ ῥέζειν), sacrificare (ambiguous) to profane sacred rites: sacra polluere et violare
* “sacrum”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly

## Polish
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin sacrum. Doublet of sakra.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsa.krum/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -akrum
* Syllabification: sa‧crum

### Noun

sacrum n (indeclinable)
* (anthropology) sacrum (the sacred world)
    Antonym: profanum

### Further reading

* sacrum in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French sacrum.

### Noun

sacrum n (uncountable)
* sacrum