Saint

[Fr. saint, Pr. saint, sanct, sant, san, sayn, Sp. santo, san, It. santo, Lat. sanctus, sacred, properly p. p. of sancire, to render sacred by a religious act, to appoint as sacred.]

1Sense 1. A person sanctified; a holy or godly person; one eminent for piety and virtue. “Them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.”

1 Cor. i. 2.

2Sense 2. One of the blessed in heaven.

Then shall thy saints unmixed, and from the impure Far separate, circling thy holy mount, Unfeigned hallelujahs to thee sing. Milton.

3Sense 3. (Eccl.) One canonized by the church.

Saint Andrew’s cross. (a.) A cross shaped like the letter X. (b.) (Bot.) A low North American shrub of the genus Ascy rum (A. Crux-Andreae), the petals of which have the form of a Saint Andrew’s cross. Gray. — Saint Anthony’s fire, the erysipelas; — popularly so called because it was supposed to have been cured by the intercession of Saint Anthony. — Saint Cuthbert’s beads (Paleon.), the separated, perforated joints of a species of fossil encrinite; Encrinites moniliformis; — so called from their resemblance to beads. — Saint Ignatius’s bean (Bot.), the seeds of a plant of the genus Ignatia (I. amara), used in India as a remedy for cholera. Eng. Cyc. — Saint John’s bread, a plant of the genus Ceratonia; the carob tree. P. Cyc. — Saint John’s wort, a plant of the genus Hypericum, most species of which have yellow flowers. — Saint Martin’s herb, a small plant of the genus Sauvagesia (S. erecta). It is very mucilaginous, and is used in medicine. — Saint Peter’s wort. (a.) A plant of the genus Ascy rum. (b.) A plant of the genus Hypericum. — Saint’s bell, a small bell used in the Roman Catholic church to call attention to the more solemn parts of the service of the mass, as at the conclusion of the ordinary, when the priest repeats the words Sancte, sancte, sancte, Deus sabaoth, and on the elevation of the host and chalice after consecration. It is usually a hand-bell carried by an attendant; but sometimes a larger one is used, suspended in a small turret on the outside of the church, and rung by a rope from within. Oxf. Gloss. — Saint Vitus’s dance (Med.), a disease affecting the voluntary muscles with constant, irregular movements, occurring usually before puberty; chorea.

[imp. & p. p. SAINTED; p. pr. & vb. n. SAINTING.] To make a saint of; to beatify; to number or enroll among saints by an official act of the pope; to canonize.

Over against the church, stands a large hospital, erected by a shoemaker who has been beatified, though never sainted. Addison.

To act with a show of piety. [R.] Pope.