sanctuary
SANK-choo-air-ee · noun
Origin
From Middle English seyntuarie, borrowed from Old French saintuaire, from Late Latin sanctuarium, meaning a sacred place or shrine, ultimately from Latin sanctus, 'holy, sacred.'
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Journey
In Medieval Latin, sanctuarium widened beyond 'shrine' to also mean temple, church, churchyard, cemetery, and even the legal right of asylum — so the word already carried the idea of a protected space long before it settled into English.
Related words
It shares its root, sanctus, with 'saint' — both words trace back to the same Latin idea of holiness.