sanctify
/ˈsæŋk.tɪ.faɪ/
"sanctify" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sanctify” is an uncommon English word, ranked #61,787 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #61,787
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To make holy; to consecrate; to set aside for sacred or ceremonial use.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sanctify |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈsæŋk.tɪ.faɪ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #61,787 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sanctify” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sanctify is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsæŋk.tɪ.faɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #61,787 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for sanctify in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Anglo-Norman seintefier, from Old French saintefier, from Late Latin sānctificō, from Latin sānctus (“holy”) + faciō (“do, make”). Form altered to conform with Latin. The correct English form is sanctify, spelled S-A-N-C-T-I-F-Y.
Definition
- 1To make holy; to consecrate; to set aside for sacred or ceremonial use.
- 2To free from sin; to purify.
- 3To make acceptable or useful under religious law or practice.
- 4To endorse with religious sanction.
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman seintefier, from Old French saintefier, from Late Latin sānctificō, from Latin sānctus (“holy”) + faciō (“do, make”). Form altered to conform with Latin.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “sanctify”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-A-N-C-T-I-F-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsæŋk.tɪ.faɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.