different between sanctuary vs iconostasis

English

Etymology

From Middle English sanctuary, from Old French saintuaire, from Late Latin sanctuarium (“a sacred place, a shrine, a private cabinet, in Medieval Latin also temple, church, churchyard, cemetery, right of asylum”), from Latin sanctus (“holy, sacred”); see saint.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?sæ?ktj???i/, /?sæ?kt?????i/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?sæ?kt??u???i/
• Hyphenation: sanc?tu?ary

Noun

sanctuary (plural sanctuaries)

1. A place of safety, refuge, or protection.

   My car is a sanctuary, where none can disturb me except for people who cut me off.

2. An area set aside for protection.

   The bird sanctuary has strict restrictions on visitors so the birds aren't disturbed.

3. A state of being protected, asylum.

   The government granted sanctuary to the defector, protecting him from his former government.

4. The consecrated (or sacred) area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.

Synonyms

• haven
• presbytery
• refuge
• zoar
• shelter

Translations

Further reading

• sanctuary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sanctuary in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Derived terms

• privileged sanctuary
• sanctuary city
• sanctuarylike

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?k??n?st?s?s/

Noun

iconostasis (plural iconostases)

1. (Eastern Orthodoxy) A wall of icons between the sanctuary and the nave in a church of eastern Christendom.

Translations