Definition of "saint"

saint¹

/seɪnt/

noun
plural saints
1. (religion, generally) A deceased person whom a church or another religious group has officially recognised as especially holy or godly; one eminent for piety and virtue.
2. (Christianity) One of the blessed in heaven.
  Quotations
  Then ſhall thy Saints unmixt, and from th' impure Farr ſeparate, circling thy holy Mount Unfained Halleluiahs to thee ſing,
  1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, lines 742–744
3. (Christianity) A Christian; a faithful believer in the present world.
  Quotations
  Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Iesus, called to be Saints, with all that in euery place call vpon the Name of Iesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1 Corinthians 1:2
4. (Mormonism, specifically) Alternative letter-case form of Saint (“a Mormon, a Latter-day Saint”)
5. (figuratively, by extension) A person with similarly overwhelming positive qualities; one who does good.
6. (archaic) A holy object.
  Quotations
  It is ruine to a man to deuoure ſaintes, and afterward to retracte the vowes.
  1610, The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Lavrence Kellam, […], Proverbes 20:25, page 299

saint²

/seɪnt/

verb
third-person singular simple present saints, present participle sainting, simple past and past participle sainted
1. (transitive) Synonym of canonize: to honor, formally name, or revere as a saint.

saint³

/seɪnt/

prefix
1. (toponymy) Capitalized and placed before another term, particularly personal names, to create placename without direct association to any religious character.

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