詞源

源自原始意大利語 (“神聖的”) ← 原始印歐語 (“神聖化；簽約”)。

發音

• (古典拉丁語) 國際音標^(幫助)：/ˈsa.ker/, [ˈs̠äkɛr]
• (教會拉丁語) 國際音標^(幫助)：/ˈsa.t͡ʃer/, [ˈsäːt͡ʃer]

形容詞

(阴性，中性); 第一/第二類變格 形容詞 (主格陽性單數結尾為-er)

1. 神聖的，受崇敬的 (翻譯希臘語ἱερός)
   • c. 200 BCE, Plautus, Menaechmi V.5.38:

     at ego te sacram coronam surrupuisse Iovi scio

     And I know that you stole the sacred crown of Jupiter.

2. 犧牲的；受詛咒的
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid III.56:

     quid non mortalia pectora cogis / auri sacra fames

     Accursed hunger for gold, what do you not compel the hearts of men to do!

3. 天賜的，天空的
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid VIII.591:

     extulit os sacrum caelo tenebrasque resoluit

     lifts to the skies his countenance divine, and melts the shadows of the night away.

4. (詩歌用法, 奧古斯都後的散文) 可恨的，可怕的；有罪的；邪惡的
   • c. 190 BCE, Plautus, Bacchides 4.6.14:

     ego sum malus ego sum sacer scelestus

     I am a bad one, I am a cursed one—a wicked one.

參考資料

• sacer in Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879
• “sacer”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sacer在Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français (拉丁語-法語詳解詞典), Hachette中的內容
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • （模糊）ritual; ceremonial: sacra, res divinae, religiones, caerimoniae
    
  • （模糊）to sacrifice: sacra, sacrificium facere (ἱερὰ ῥέζειν), sacrificare
    
  • （模糊）to profane sacred rites: sacra polluere et violare
    
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, ISBN 9789004167971, 页532