Holy Year
1
8.6
- noun
- /ˈhoʊli jɪr/
- Formal
:
Año Santo
- During the Holy Year, many pilgrims travel to Rome to seek forgiveness for their sins.
- Holy Year of Mercy
Examples
-
It was just before the holy year 2000 for Christians.
Academic text (2008) -
The soul in question did confess though in guarded terms in Rome in Holy Year, though I'm not sure the priest understood English.
-
This was of particular interest to him because, although Galicia's famous Xacobeo, or Holy Year of Grace, produced massive tourism revenue, the celebration was not an annual event.
Academic text (2012) -
The year I was ordained a priest (1983) was a "Holy Year of Redemption," but did I know about it?
Blog text (34) -
For the Holy Year 1500, Pope Alexander VI sliced through part of it with a straight street called the Borgo Nuovo (Fig. 3).
Academic text (2006) -
The Holy Year offers special indulgences to those who participate in religious events.
-
In the Catholic faith, believers look forward to the Holy Year, which occurs once every 25 years.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a sacred or special religious year' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'holy' (sacred) with 'year' (a twelve-month period). This adjective+noun composition is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand it denotes a sanctified or special year even if they may not know the specific Roman Catholic institutional details (indulgences, timing).
Etymology
Holy Year comes from a long Church tradition of naming a whole year as especially holy, when the pope asked people to travel to holy places and offered extra forgiveness. That's why Holy Year means a 'special year' for pilgrims and for receiving extra forgiveness and blessings.