Etymograph

English

sacrilege

Sacrilege comes from Latin sacrilegium ‘the robbing of a temple, stealing of sacred…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂k-1‘to make sacred’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sh₂krós1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sakros1‘sacred’reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEsakros1
  5. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEsacros1
  6. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCE*sakr̥s1reconstructed
  7. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCE*sakerr1reconstructed
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsacer1‘holy, sacred’
  9. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsacrilegus2‘sacrilegious’
  10. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsacrilegium2‘the robbing of a temple, stealing of sacred objects, sacrilege’
  11. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sacrilege2
  12. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sacrilege2
  13. Englishearliest quotation 1951sacrilege2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sacrilegus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sacrilege
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1951, R. S. McNaught, Lines of Approach: “I recall the height of comfort attained by the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂k-Wiktionary, Latin sacrilegus‘to make sacred’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sh₂krósWiktionary, Latin sacrilegusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sakrosWiktionary, Latin sacrilegus‘sacred’reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEsakrosWiktionary, Latin sacrilegus
  5. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEsacrosWiktionary, Latin sacrilegus
  6. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCE*sakr̥sWiktionary, Latin sacrilegusreconstructed
  7. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCE*sakerrWiktionary, Latin sacrilegusreconstructed
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsacerWiktionary, Latin sacrilegus‘holy, sacred’
  9. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsacrilegusWiktionary, English sacrilege‘sacrilegious’
  10. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsacrilegiumWiktionary, English sacrilege‘the robbing of a temple, stealing of sacred objects, sacrilege’
  11. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sacrilegeWiktionary, English sacrilege
  12. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sacrilegeWiktionary, English sacrilege
  13. Englishearliest quotation 1951sacrilegeWiktionary, English sacrilege. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1951, R. S. McNaught, Lines of Approach: “I recall the height of comfort attained by the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- ‘to make sacred’

saint, sanction, santo, sanctity, sanctification, 10 more

through Proto-Indo-European *sh₂krós

sacre, 7 more

through Proto-Italic *sakros ‘sacred’

consecration, consecrate, sacramental, 7 more

through Latin sacer ‘holy, sacred’

sexton, sacrament, 8 more

Today it means

noun Desecration, profanation, misuse or violation of something regarded as sacred.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sacrilege”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin sacrilegus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- / sacrilege

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