Sacred \Sa"cred\, a. [Originally p. p. of OE. sacren to
   consecrate, F. sacrer, fr. L. sacrare, fr. sacer sacred,
   holy, cursed. Cf. Consecrate, Execrate, Saint,
   Sexton.]
   1. Set apart by solemn religious ceremony; especially, in a
      good sense, made holy; set apart to religious use;
      consecrated; not profane or common; as, a sacred place; a
      sacred day; sacred service.
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   2. Relating to religion, or to the services of religion; not
      secular; religious; as, sacred history.
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            Smit with the love of sacred song.    --Milton.
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   3. Designated or exalted by a divine sanction; possessing the
      highest title to obedience, honor, reverence, or
      veneration; entitled to extreme reverence; venerable.
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            Such neighbor nearness to our sacred [royal] blood
            Should nothing privilege him.         --Shak.
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            Poet and saint to thee alone were given,
            The two most sacred names of earth and heaven.
                                                  --Cowley.
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   4. Hence, not to be profaned or violated; inviolable.
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            Secrets of marriage still are sacred held. --Dryden.
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   5. Consecrated; dedicated; devoted; -- with to.
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            A temple, sacred to the queen of love. --Dryden.
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   6. Solemnly devoted, in a bad sense, as to evil, vengeance,
      curse, or the like; accursed; baleful. [Archaic]
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            But, to destruction sacred and devote. --Milton.
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   Society of the Sacred Heart (R.C. Ch.), a religious order
      of women, founded in France in 1800, and approved in 1826.
      It was introduced into America in 1817. The members of the
      order devote themselves to the higher branches of female
      education.

   Sacred baboon. (Zool.) See Hamadryas.

   Sacred bean (Bot.), a seed of the Oriental lotus (Nelumbo
      speciosa or Nelumbium speciosum), a plant resembling a
      water lily; also, the plant itself. See Lotus.

   Sacred beetle (Zool.) See Scarab.

   Sacred canon. See Canon, n., 3.

   Sacred fish (Zool.), any one of numerous species of
      fresh-water African fishes of the family Mormyridae.
      Several large species inhabit the Nile and were considered
      sacred by the ancient Egyptians; especially Mormyrus
      oxyrhynchus.

   Sacred ibis. See Ibis.

   Sacred monkey. (Zool.)
      (a) Any Asiatic monkey of the genus Semnopithecus,
          regarded as sacred by the Hindoos; especially, the
          entellus. See Entellus.
      (b) The sacred baboon. See Hamadryas.
      (c) The bhunder, or rhesus monkey.

   Sacred place (Civil Law), the place where a deceased person
      is buried.
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   Syn: Holy; divine; hallowed; consecrated; dedicated; devoted;
        religious; venerable; reverend.
        [1913 Webster] -- Sa"cred*ly, adv. -- Sa"cred*ness,
        n.
        [1913 Webster] Sacrific

canon \can"on\ (k[a^]n"[u^]n), n. [OE. canon, canoun, AS. canon
   rule (cf. F. canon, LL. canon, and, for sense 7, F. chanoine,
   LL. canonicus), fr. L. canon a measuring line, rule, model,
   fr. Gr. kanw`n rule, rod, fr. ka`nh, ka`nnh, reed. See
   Cane, and cf. Canonical.]
   1. A law or rule.
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            Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
            His canon 'gainst self-slaughter.     --Shak.
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   2. (Eccl.) A law, or rule of doctrine or discipline, enacted
      by a council and confirmed by the pope or the sovereign; a
      decision, regulation, code, or constitution made by
      ecclesiastical authority.
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            Various canons which were made in councils held in
            the second centry.                    --Hook.
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   3. The collection of books received as genuine Holy
      Scriptures, called the sacred canon, or general rule of
      moral and religious duty, given by inspiration; the Bible;
      also, any one of the canonical Scriptures. See Canonical
      books, under Canonical, a.
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   4. In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious
      order.
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   5. A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the
      Roman Catholic Church.
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   6. A member of a cathedral chapter; a person who possesses a
      prebend in a cathedral or collegiate church.
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   7. (Mus.) A musical composition in which the voices begin one
      after another, at regular intervals, successively taking
      up the same subject. It either winds up with a coda
      (tailpiece), or, as each voice finishes, commences anew,
      thus forming a perpetual fugue or round. It is the
      strictest form of imitation. See Imitation.
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   8. (Print.) The largest size of type having a specific name;
      -- so called from having been used for printing the canons
      of the church.
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   9. The part of a bell by which it is suspended; -- called
      also ear and shank.

   Note: [See Illust. of Bell.] --Knight.
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   10. (Billiards) See Carom.
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   Apostolical canons. See under Apostolical.

   Augustinian canons, Black canons. See under
      Augustinian.

   Canon capitular, Canon residentiary, a resident member of
      a cathedral chapter (during a part or the whole of the
      year).

   Canon law. See under Law.

   Canon of the Mass (R. C. Ch.), that part of the mass,
      following the Sanctus, which never changes.

   Honorary canon, a canon[6] who neither lived in a
      monastery, nor kept the canonical hours.

   Minor canon (Ch. of Eng.), one who has been admitted to a
      chapter, but has not yet received a prebend.

   Regular canon (R. C. Ch.), one who lived in a conventual
      community and followed the rule of St. Austin; a Black
      canon.

   Secular canon (R. C. Ch.), one who did not live in a
      monastery, but kept the hours.
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