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)
“Grief that is dazed and speechless is out of fashion: the modern woman mourns her husband loudly and tells you the whole story of his death, which distresses her so much that she forgets not the slightest detail about it.”
—Jean De La Bruyère (1645–1696)
“It is time for dead languages to be quiet.”
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972)