hallowed
adjective
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Hallowed Has Old English Roots
The adjective hallowed, meaning "holy" or "revered," isn’t especially spooky, but its history is entwined with that of a certain spooky season. Hallowed is the past participle of the verb hallow, a term that descends from the Middle English word halowen. That word can be traced back to the Old English adjective hālig, meaning "holy." During the Middle Ages, All Hallows' Day was the name for what Christians now call All Saints' Day (hallow was once used also as a noun referring to a saint), and the evening that preceded All Hallows' Day was All Hallows' Eve or All Hallow Even—or, as we know it today, Halloween. (Although pumpkins are often hollowed out on Halloween, hollow has a different Old English root.)
Examples of hallowed in a Sentence
Ombline Damy, JSTOR Daily, 26 June 2025
The project sits on hallowed ground—the former site of the original Dome, a legendary music venue that once hosted Jimi Hendrix and Ray Charles before its demolition in 1994.
—Erin Gifford, Travel + Leisure, 17 June 2025
The hallowed kind: ahead of his time, long-suffering, an independent defying the Hollywood behemoth next door.
—Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 June 2025
The sport’s biggest names all descend upon the hallowed grounds of Augusta National every April, each with the goal of etching their name into the record books and claiming the game’s most coveted prize: the green jacket.
—Rory Fleming, CNN Money, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hallowed
Cite this Entry
“Hallowed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hallowed. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.
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