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Glite Dictionary
🛋️ A private space 🏛️ A sacred area
temenos

temenos

9.9
A sacred area around a temple in ancient Greece
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛmənɒs/
  • Archaic
translation icon : temenos
  • The ancient Greeks built a temenos around their temples.

Examples

  • In Delphi, the temenos was a sacred space for worship.

  • Visitors are not allowed to enter the temenos without special permission.

  • Archaeologists uncovered the remains of a temenos near the ancient city walls.

  • The festival was held within the temenos dedicated to the goddess.

  • Archaeologists uncovered the remains of a temenos near the ancient city walls.

  • The festival was held within the temenos dedicated to the goddess.

  • In Delphi, the temenos was a sacred space for worship.

Synonyms

ancient shrine
vstemenos
1 7.0

A very old place where people worship, often visited for religious reasons

is a defined sacred enclosure surrounding a temple in ancient Greece

Antonyms

public
∞ 1.0

Open or available to everyone, not private

How Sacred

sanctuary
70 4.1
temenos
  • Archaic
9.9
holy place
14 3.5
enclosure
25 3.5

Surface Forms

temenos singular
temenoses plural
temenoi plural

Etymology

Temenos comes from Greek and the verb temnein meaning 'to cut', because people set the area 'cut off' for a god or a temple. That's why a temenos refers to the sacred enclosure around an ancient temple.