(a) Holy, divinely inspired, worthy of worship; also in oaths; in personification: ~ treuth; (b) in phrases: for (par, etc.) ~ charite, for the sake of charity; -- common in entreaties and requests; also in malapropism [last quot.]; ~ gral, q.v.; ~ saveour, the Holy Savior, Christ; also in oath; ~ spirit (espirit), the Holy Ghost; ~ trinite, Holy Trinity, the three persons of the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost); also in oath.

Prefixed as a title to: (a) the names of Christian martyrs and confessors, canonized saints, the apostles, the evangelists, and archangels; (b) the names of certain OT patriarchs, prophets, etc.; (c) the names of Christian saints as used in exclamations, invocations, oaths, etc.; ~ jon to borgh [see borgh n.2b.(d)]; (d) the names of pagan deities and persons; -- used in oaths and entreaties; also, used jocularly [quot.: a1425(c1385)].

In names of Christian feast days in one or more of the following formulaic phrases: (a) ~ andreu (peter, etc., nicholas the) dai, ~ andreues (austines, etc.) dai, ~ andreues feste, ~ antonines, ~ bartelmeus (martines, etc.) even, ~ donston (jon, etc.), ~ hugh (luke, etc.) his dai, ~ matheues (laurence, etc., jame his) tide, dai of ~ albon (george), feste of ~ agas (anneis, etc.): Agatha [Agas, see agas n.], February 5; Alban [Albon], June 22; Andrew [Andreu], November 30; Anne [Anneis], July 26; Antonine, September 2; Antony of Egypt [Antoun], January 17; Augustine of Canterbury [Austin], May 26; Barnabas [Barnabe], June 11; Bartholomew [Bartelmeu], August 24; Benedict [Benet], March 21; Catherine of Alexandria [Caterine], November 25; Cecilia [Cecile], November 22; Clare [Clere], August 12; Holy Cross day [Crois], September 14; Dunstan [Donston], May 19; Elizabeth of Hungary, November 19; Francis [Fraunceis], October 4; George, April 23; Gregory the Great [Gregori], March 12; Hilary of Poitiers [Hilari, see Hilari n.], January 13; Hugh, November 17; James the Great, of Compostella [Jame, see Jame n.(d)], July 25; Jerome, September 30; John the Baptist [Jon baptist], June 24; John the Evangelist [Jon evangelist], December 27; Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran [Laterine], November 9; Laurence, August 10; Louis of Toulouse, August 19; Louis, King of France, August 25; Margaret [Margerie], July 20; Mark, April 25; Martin of Tours [see also martin-messe n.], November 11; Matthias [Mathie], April 24 [April 25 in quot.: a1500(1452), a leap year]; Matthew [Matheu], September 21; Michael [Mighel, see also Mighel n.(b) & Mighel-messe n.], September 29; Nicholas [see also Nicholas n.(b)], December 6; Peter and Paul [Peter and Poule, see also Peter n.1.(b) & Poule n.1.(a)], June 29; Simon and Jude, October 28; Stephen, December 26; Thomas of Canterbury, December 29; Valentine, February 14; (b) ~ jones dai decollacioun, feste of) the decollacioun of ~ jon [see also decollacioun n.(b)], August 29; ~ marie dai, one of the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary: ~ marie dai in marche (lenten), March 25 [Annunciation]; ~ marie dai biforen criste-masse, December 8 [Conception]; ~ marie dai in septembre, the latere ~ marie dai, September 8 [Nativity]; ~ marie even, March 24; ~ marie dai (the) maudelaine, July 22 [Mary Magdalene; see also Marie n.1.(d) & 2.(a) & Maudelaine n.1.(b)]; commemoracioun of ~ poule, June 30; conversioun of ~ poule, January 25; octave of ~ antoni, utas of ~ barnabe (clere, etc.), the seventh day after the feast specified; translacioun of ~ louis (thomas), ?August 25 [St. Louis], July 3 [St. Thomas of Canterbury].

(a) Med. ~ antonis fir (ivel), fir of ~ antoni (martial), St. Anthony's fire, a disease of the skin, either erysipelas or ergotism [see also fir n.11.(b)]; (b) in plant names: ~ cuthberts col, the common mallow Malva silvestris; also, the marsh mallow Althaea officinalis; ~ jones (jon) wort, ~ jon herbe, herbe ~ jon, Hypericum perforatum [see also herbe-jon n.]; ~ marie flour (sele), Polygonatum multiflorum; ~ marie gar-lek, ?a variety of garlic [cp. gar-lek n.1.(a) & (b)]; ~ marie golde, the common marigold Calendula officinalis [cp. mari-golde n.]; ~ marie maithe, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum; ~ marie rode, pot marigold [cp. rode n.(2)]; ~ marie sed, Sonchus, the sow thistle; ~ osith wort, a plant of the genus Calamintha.

In other cpds. & combs.: ~ andrew cros, cros of ~ andrew, an oblique X-shaped cross [see also Andrewes crosse phrase]; ~ colmanes brid, the teal duck; ~ edmundes lode, plowing service owed to the lord of the manor [cp. lode n.1.]; ~ edwardes laue, a set of laws supposedly made in Edward the Confessor's time from three previous sets; ~ george (livere, ?cloth decorated with a red cross, the insignia of St. George [cp. livere n.(3) 4.(b)]; ~ gilicorn, a measure of oats, a customary grain rent on a manor [?cp. gile n.(2)]; ~ hilda fish, a fish found in the area around the Chapel of St. Hilda in the parish of Jarrow, County Durham; ~ jame pilgrim, a pilgrim to Jerusalem; also, a pilgrim to St. James of Compostella; ~ james ordre, ordre of ~ jame, a group of women who attempted to follow the precepts of the Epistle of James 1.27; ~ julian, fig. a very hospitable person [from St. Julian, the patron saint of hospitality]; ~ margaret (colas, jon baptistes) light, light of ~ marie, a light in a church kept burning in honor of a specific saint (Mary, etc.) [cp. ladie n.4.(f), light n.3.(b), and rode n.(2) 4.(e)]; prente of ~ venus sele, a birthmark attributed to Venus when she was the dominant star in a person's nativity; -- perh. located somewhere in the loins.

(a) In surnames; (b) in place names; ~ jame, St. James of Compostella [see Jame n.(b)]; ~ patrikes purgatorie, a cavern in Ireland said to be an entrance to Purgatory [see also purgatorie n.2.]; (c) in names of churches, abbeys, and other buildings; (d) in names of ships.