Sacrilege

Origin

Circa 1300, original sense “stealing something sacred”. From Old French sacrilege, from Latin sacrilegium, from sacrilegus ("sacrilegious"), from phrase sacrum legere, from sacrum (from sacer ("sacred, holy")) + legō ("gather; take, steal"), from Proto-Indo-European *sak- and Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-. Sense of “profanation” from late 14th century.

Online Etymology Dictionary

Unrelated to religion, which is ultimately from ligō ("I tie, bind, or bandage"), from Proto-Indo-European *leygʰ- ("to bind").

Full definition of sacrilege

Noun

1. Desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something regarded as sacred.

Derived terms

• sacrilegious