Use of The Term in Modern Languages
The Latin word sanctum may be used in English, following Latin, for "a holy place," or a sanctuary, as in the novel Jane Eyre (1848) which refers to "the sanctum of school room."
Romance languages tend to use the form sancta sanctorum, treating it as masculine and singular. E.g., the Spanish dictionary of the Real Academia Española admits sanctasanctórum (without the space and with an accent) as a derivative Spanish noun denoting both the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem, any secluded and mysterious place, and something that a person holds in the highest esteem.
Read more about this topic: Sanctum Sanctorum
Famous quotes containing the words term, modern and/or languages:
“Children, I grant, should be innocent; but when the epithet is applied to men, or women, it is but a civil term for weakness.”
—Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797)
“Whosoever, in writing a modern history, shall follow truth too near the heels, it may haply strike out his teeth.”
—Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618)
“The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.”
—Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1934)