Sanctify \Sanc"ti*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Sanctified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sanctifying}.] [F. sanctifier, L. sanctificare; sanctus holy + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See {Saint}, and {-fy}.] 1. To make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or religious use; to consecrate by appropriate rites; to hallow.
God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. --Gen. ii. 3.
Moses . . . sanctified Aaron and his garments. --Lev. viii. 30.
2. To make free from sin; to cleanse from moral corruption and pollution; to purify.
Sanctify them through thy truth. --John xvii. 17.
3. To make efficient as the means of holiness; to render productive of holiness or piety.
A means which his mercy hath sanctified so to me as to make me repent of that unjust act. --Eikon Basilike.
4. To impart or impute sacredness, venerableness, inviolability, title to reverence and respect, or the like, to; to secure from violation; to give sanction to.
The holy man, amazed at what he saw, Made haste to sanctify the bliss by law. --Dryden.
Truth guards the poet, sanctifies the line. --Pope.
In Jerusalem, Kahane spokesman Baruch Marzel told the AP, "I think this is a great act to sanctify the Lord.
"Our enemies sanctify and praise death in their struggle against us, but we have always and will forever praise life even though our warriors and sons are ready to sacrifice their lives," Shamir said.