saint

Saint comes from Middle English saint or seint, blending Old English sanct with Old French saint, both ultimately from Latin sānctus, meaning 'holy, consecrated.' That Latin word is the past participle of sancīre, 'to render sacred, make holy,' related to sacer, 'holy, sacred.'

The word arrived in English through two converging streams — a native Old English form and a borrowed Old French one — which merged into the single spelling we use today. It eventually displaced an older Middle English word, halwe, which came from Old English hālga and survives now only in 'hallow.'

Saint is a doublet of Sanctus, the Latin word used in the liturgy, both descending from the same root meaning 'made holy.' It also stands as a kind of sibling to 'hallow,' the native English word it once pushed aside.