Meaning & use
sacred text
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Meanings
nouncountablereligion
A written work that followers of a faith treat as holy and as a guide to belief, worship and how to live.
Grammar: Has a plural: sacred texts. The word text alone can also stand for it.
Patterns
- a sacred text of something
The Bible is a sacred text for Christians.
Students compared how different sacred texts describe the creation of the world.
The monks copied the sacred text by hand.
nouncountablefigurativehumorous
Any writing held in such deep respect by a group that it is treated as beyond question.
Grammar: Used figuratively and often with humor: the manual was a sacred text in the office.
Patterns
- treat something as a sacred text
For the fans, the first novel became a sacred text.
The founder's handbook was treated as a sacred text by the staff.
Word forms
| plural | sacred texts |
|---|
Common combinations
- study a sacred text
- Scholars study a sacred text for years to understand its language.
- ancient sacred text
- The temple library holds an ancient sacred text on palm leaves.
- read from a sacred text
- The priest read from a sacred text at the ceremony.
- interpret a sacred text
- Communities often interpret a sacred text in different ways.
- translate a sacred text
- It took ten years to translate the sacred text into English.
Synonyms and how they differ
- scripture
- Scripture usually means the holy writings of one particular religion and is often used in the singular without a.
- holy book
- Holy book is plainer and everyday, and suits a single book such as the Quran or Bible.
- canon
- Canon refers to the set of books officially accepted as authoritative by a faith, not to one book.
- gospel
- Gospel is mainly Christian and means the teaching of Jesus or one of four accounts of his life.
Opposites
Word family
- sacred adjective
- holy or deserving great respect
- sacredness noun
- the quality of being holy
- text noun
- written words, such as a book or passage
- sacredly adverb
- in a holy or deeply respectful way
Commonly confused: sacred text or sacrament?
sacred text vs sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred religious ceremony, such as baptism, not a written work.
Practice
The Torah is regarded as a ______ in Judaism.
Choose one answer.
The Torah is a holy writing treated as authoritative by Jewish believers, so sacred text fits. A contract, guide or newspaper does not describe a religious scripture.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sacred text”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.