Holy \Ho"ly\, a. [Compar. Holier; superl. Holiest.] [OE.
holi, hali, AS. h[=a]lig, fr. h[ae]l health, salvation,
happiness, fr. h[=a]l whole, well; akin to OS. h?lag, D. & G.
heilig, OHG. heilac, Dan. hellig, Sw. helig, Icel. heilagr.
See Whole, and cf. Halibut, Halidom, Hallow,
Hollyhock.]
1. Set apart to the service or worship of God; hallowed;
sacred; reserved from profane or common use; holy vessels;
a holy priesthood. "Holy rites and solemn feasts."
--Milton.
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2. Spiritually whole or sound; of unimpaired innocence and
virtue; free from sinful affections; pure in heart; godly;
pious; irreproachable; guiltless; acceptable to God.
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Now through her round of holy thought
The Church our annual steps has brought. --Keble.
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Holy Alliance (Hist.), a league ostensibly for conserving
religion, justice, and peace in Europe, but really for
repressing popular tendencies toward constitutional
government, entered into by Alexander I. of Russia,
Francis I. of Austria, and Frederic William III. of
Prussia, at Paris, on the 26th of September, 1815, and
subsequently joined by all the sovereigns of Europe,
except the pope and the king of England.
Holy bark. See Cascara sagrada.
Holy Communion. See Eucharist.
Holy family (Art), a picture in which the infant Christ,
his parents, and others of his family are represented.
Holy Father, a title of the pope.
Holy Ghost (Theol.), the third person of the Trinity; the
Comforter; the Paraclete.
Holy Grail. See Grail.
Holy grass (Bot.), a sweet-scented grass (Hierochloa
borealis and Hierochloa alpina). In the north of Europe
it was formerly strewed before church doors on saints'
days; whence the name. It is common in the northern and
western parts of the United States. Called also vanilla
grass or Seneca grass.
Holy Innocents' day, Childermas day.
Holy Land, Palestine, the birthplace of Christianity.
Holy office, the Inquisition.
Holy of holies (Script.), the innermost apartment of the
Jewish tabernacle or temple, where the ark was kept, and
where no person entered, except the high priest once a
year.
Holy One.
(a) The Supreme Being; -- so called by way of emphasis. "
The Holy One of Israel." --Is. xliii. 14.
(b) One separated to the service of God.
Holy orders. See Order.
Holy rood, the cross or crucifix, particularly one placed,
in churches. over the entrance to the chancel.
Holy rope, a plant, the hemp agrimony.
Holy Saturday (Eccl.), the Saturday immediately preceding
the festival of Easter; the vigil of Easter.
Holy Spirit, same as Holy Ghost (above).
Holy Spirit plant. See Dove plant.
Holy thistle (Bot.), the blessed thistle. See under
Thistle.
Holy Thursday. (Eccl.)
(a) (Episcopal Ch.) Ascension day.
(b) (R. C. Ch.) The Thursday in Holy Week; Maundy
Thursday.
Holy war, a crusade; an expedition carried on by Christians
against the Saracens in the Holy Land, in the eleventh,
twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, for the possession of
the holy places.
Holy water (Gr. & R. C. Churches), water which has been
blessed by the priest for sacred purposes.
Holy-water stoup, the stone stoup or font placed near the
entrance of a church, as a receptacle for holy water.
Holy Week (Eccl.), the week before Easter, in which the
passion of our Savior is commemorated.
Holy writ, the sacred Scriptures. " Word of holy writ."
--Wordsworth.
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Thursday \Thurs"day\, n. [OE. [thorn]ursdei, [thorn]orsday, from
the Scand. name Thor + E. day. Icel. [thorn][=o]rr Thor, the
god of thunder, is akin to AS. [thorn]unor thunder; D.
Donderdag Thursday, G. Donnerstag, Icel. [thorn][=o]rsdagr,
Sw. & Dan. Torsdag. [root]52. See Thor, Thunder, and
Day.]
The fifth day of the week, following Wednesday and preceding
Friday.
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Holy Thursday. See under Holy.
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Ascension \As*cen"sion\, n. [F. ascension, L. ascensio, fr.
ascendere. See Ascend.]
1. The act of ascending; a rising; ascent.
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2. Specifically: The visible ascent of our Savior on the
fortieth day after his resurrection. (--Acts i. 9.) Also,
Ascension Day.
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3. An ascending or arising, as in distillation; also that
which arises, as from distillation.
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Vaporous ascensions from the stomach. --Sir T.
Browne.
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Ascension Day, the Thursday but one before Whitsuntide, the
day on which commemorated our Savior's ascension into
heaven after his resurrection; -- called also Holy
Thursday.
Right ascension (Astron.), that degree of the equinoctial,
counted from the beginning of Aries, which rises with a
star, or other celestial body, in a right sphere; or the
arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of
Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the
meridian with the star; -- expressed either in degrees or
in time.
Oblique ascension (Astron.), an arc of the equator,
intercepted between the first point of Aries and that
point of the equator which rises together with a star, in
an oblique sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted
between the first point of Aries and that point of the
equator that comes to the horizon with a star. It is
little used in modern astronomy.
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