sanctuary

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.'

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.

It shares its root, sanctus, with 'saint' — both words trace back to the same Latin idea of holiness.