What does sacrarium mean?
A sacrarium is, in its best-known historical sense, the shrine or small room in an ancient Roman house where the family worshiped its household gods and kept sacred images, offerings, and ritual objects. It was an important part of Roman domestic religion rather than a separate public temple. The term also has a specialized ecclesiastical use for a sanctuary, especially an area containing an altar, and for a repository in which relics or other sacred objects are kept. Today it appears mainly in archaeological, architectural, and religious-historical writing, including descriptions of excavated Roman houses, early churches, altars, and treasuries. Although the general word shrine can suggest any holy place, a sacrarium is more precise: it usually identifies a particular architectural space or fixture associated with worship and the preservation of sacred objects.
nounIn ancient Roman houses, a shrine or room used for household worship and the safekeeping of sacred objects. In later ecclesiastical usage, the term can denote a sanctuary or a repository for relics.
- A shrine or room in an ancient Roman house where household deities, ancestors, and associated ritual objects were honored.
- In an ecclesiastical or historical context, a sanctuary or sacred part of a church, especially one containing an altar.
- A repository, box, or recess in a church used for keeping relics or other sacred objects.
"The archaeologists uncovered a small domestic sacrarium beside the central atrium of the Roman villa."
"Each wealthy household maintained a sacrarium containing images of protective deities."
"The church's ancient sacrarium held several reliquaries and other objects associated with its founders."
The standard plural is sacraria, although pluralized forms with -s are sometimes encountered in English.
"Several sacraria were identified in the excavated residential quarters."
Roman homes could have their own miniature places of worship, making the sacrarīum part of everyday domestic life as well as public religion.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sacrarium come from?
The English word comes from Latin sācrārium, a diminutive formed from sacrum, meaning a sacred object or shrine. In Latin, the term designated a place where sacred objects were kept, and it was especially associated with the shrines found in Roman houses. English later adopted the word in learned archaeological and ecclesiastical contexts, where it can refer both to a Roman domestic shrine and to a repository or sanctuary associated with relics.
Related word forms
How sacrarium is actually used
The word is now chiefly used in archaeology, Roman history, and the study of ecclesiastical architecture or furnishings. It should not be used as a general synonym for any place of worship.
Easily confused with sacrarium
A sanctuary is a broadly defined holy or protected place, whereas a sacrarium more specifically refers to a Roman household shrine or a church repository or sanctuary.