sacer
From Old Latin sacros, sakros, from Proto-Italic *sakros (“sacred”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- (“to sanctify, to make a treaty”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈsa.ker/, [ˈs̠äkɛr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈsa.t͡ʃer/, [ˈsäːt͡ʃer]
Adjective
sacer (feminine sacra, neuter sacrum, superlative sacerrimus); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)
- sacred, holy, dedicated (to a divinity), consecrated, hallowed (translating Greek ἱερός) [ quotations ▼]
- devoted (to a divinity for sacrifice), fated (to destruction), forfeited, accursed [ quotations ▼]
- divine, celestial [ quotations ▼]
- (only poetic and in post-Augustan prose) execrable, detestable, horrible, infamous; criminal, impious, wicked, abominable, cursed [ quotations ▼]
Usage notes
The comparative form *sacrior and its inflected variants are not attested, even though the superlative sacerrimus is attested.
Declension
First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Nominative | sacer | sacra | sacrum | sacrī | sacrae | sacra | |
| Genitive | sacrī | sacrae | sacrī | sacrōrum | sacrārum | sacrōrum | |
| Dative | sacrō | sacrō | sacrīs | ||||
| Accusative | sacrum | sacram | sacrum | sacrōs | sacrās | sacra | |
| Ablative | sacrō | sacrā | sacrō | sacrīs | |||
| Vocative | sacer | sacra | sacrum | sacrī | sacrae | sacra | |