sacrament — ONAD

sacrament /ˈsakrəmənt, ˈsækrəmənt

▸ noun

1 (in the Christian Church) a religious ceremony or ritual regarded as imparting divine grace, such as baptism, the Eucharist and (in the Roman Catholic and many Orthodox Churches) penance and the anointing of the sick.

2 (also the Blessed Sacrament or the Holy Sacrament) (in Roman Catholic use) the consecrated elements of the Eucharist, especially the bread or Host:

he heard Mass and received the sacrament.

3 a thing of mysterious and sacred significance; a religious symbol:

they used peyote as a sacrament.

– ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French sacrement, from Latin sacramentum ‘solemn oath’ (from sacrare ‘to hallow’, from sacer ‘sacred’), used in Christian Latin as a translation of Greek mustērion ‘mystery’.