Dictionary

reliquary en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɹɛlɪ(ˌ)kwɛɹi/
• /ˈɹɛlɪkwəɹi/

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French reliquaire (modern French reliquaire), from Late Latin reliquiarium, from rēliquia (“a relic”) (English relic), noun use of reliquus (“abandoned, left behind, relict”), from relinquō (“to relinquish”), from re- (“again”) and linquō (“to leave”), from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ-.

Meanings

1. A container to hold or display religious relics.
   • “… There is an ivory virgin of the fourteenth century. I once found a buyer for that piece, but the old boy would not sell it.[…]The other piece—the one that concerns us—is known as the Borgia reliquary.” 1935, Francis Beeding, “4/1”, in The Norwich Victims:
   • And whether you think of those little cans as intellectual puzzles or reliquaries or scams, there are surprises inside. 2009 February 13, Holland Cotter, “To Bump Off Art as He Knew It”, in New York Times:
2. (figuratively) An object that sustains the memory of past people or events.
3. A person who owes a balance.

Forms

Coordinates

chasse · feretery · feretory · fereter · philatory · stupa

Deriveds

reliquarylike

Relateds

relic

Translations (34)

pt relicário (container for religious relics) · es relicario (container for religious relics) · cmn 聖物箱 /圣物箱 (container for religious relics) · hu ereklyetartó (container for religious relics) · vo relikidininädian (container for religious relics) · gv coodagh taaishnys (container for religious relics) · it lipsanoteca (container for religious relics) · ro relicvariu (container for religious relics) · tr röliker (container for religious relics) · sv relikskrin (container for religious relics) · sga cathach (container for religious relics) · it reliquiario (container for religious relics) · fi pyhäinjäännöslipas (container for religious relics) · sv relikvarium (container for religious relics) · ca reliquiari (container for religious relics) · bg мощехранителница (container for religious relics) · ru мощевик (container for religious relics) · ga cathach (container for religious relics) · nl reliekhouder (container for religious relics) · gl firmal (container for religious relics) · fr reliquaire (container for religious relics) · uk реліква́рій (container for religious relics) · el λειψανοθήκη (container for religious relics) · pl relikwiarz (container for religious relics) · eo relikvujo (container for religious relics) · ru реликва́рий (container for religious relics) · fi relikvaario (container for religious relics) · gl cubela (container for religious relics) · is helgiskrín (container for religious relics) · ga taiseagán (container for religious relics) · th ธาตุ (container for religious relics) · de Reliquienschrein (container for religious relics) · cs relikviář (container for religious relics) · de Reliquiar (container for religious relics)