Holy Alliance

Holy Alliance
Holy Ho"ly, a. [Compar. {Holier}; superl. {Holiest}.] [OE. holi, hali, AS. h[=a]lig, fr. h[ae]l health, salvation, happiness, fr. h[=a]l whole, well; akin to OS. h?lag, D. & G. heilig, OHG. heilac, Dan. hellig, Sw. helig, Icel. heilagr. See {Whole}, and cf. {Halibut}, {Halidom}, {Hallow}, {Hollyhock}.] 1. Set apart to the service or worship of God; hallowed; sacred; reserved from profane or common use; holy vessels; a holy priesthood. ``Holy rites and solemn feasts.'' --Milton. [1913 Webster]

2. Spiritually whole or sound; of unimpaired innocence and virtue; free from sinful affections; pure in heart; godly; pious; irreproachable; guiltless; acceptable to God. [1913 Webster]

Now through her round of holy thought The Church our annual steps has brought. --Keble. [1913 Webster]

{Holy Alliance} (Hist.), a league ostensibly for conserving religion, justice, and peace in Europe, but really for repressing popular tendencies toward constitutional government, entered into by Alexander I. of Russia, Francis I. of Austria, and Frederic William III. of Prussia, at Paris, on the 26th of September, 1815, and subsequently joined by all the sovereigns of Europe, except the pope and the king of England.

{Holy bark}. See {Cascara sagrada}.

{Holy Communion}. See {Eucharist}.

{Holy family} (Art), a picture in which the infant Christ, his parents, and others of his family are represented.

{Holy Father}, a title of the pope.

{Holy Ghost} (Theol.), the third person of the Trinity; the Comforter; the Paraclete.

{Holy Grail}. See {Grail}.

{Holy grass} (Bot.), a sweet-scented grass ({Hierochloa borealis} and {Hierochloa alpina}). In the north of Europe it was formerly strewed before church doors on saints' days; whence the name. It is common in the northern and western parts of the United States. Called also {vanilla grass} or {Seneca grass}.

{Holy Innocents' day}, Childermas day.

{Holy Land}, Palestine, the birthplace of Christianity.

{Holy office}, the Inquisition.

{Holy of holies} (Script.), the innermost apartment of the Jewish tabernacle or temple, where the ark was kept, and where no person entered, except the high priest once a year.

{Holy One}. (a) The Supreme Being; -- so called by way of emphasis. `` The Holy One of Israel.'' --Is. xliii. 14. (b) One separated to the service of God.

{Holy orders}. See {Order}.

{Holy rood}, the cross or crucifix, particularly one placed, in churches. over the entrance to the chancel.

{Holy rope}, a plant, the hemp agrimony.

{Holy Saturday} (Eccl.), the Saturday immediately preceding the festival of Easter; the vigil of Easter.

{Holy Spirit}, same as {Holy Ghost} (above).

{Holy Spirit plant}. See {Dove plant}.

{Holy thistle} (Bot.), the blessed thistle. See under {Thistle}.

{Holy Thursday}. (Eccl.) (a) (Episcopal Ch.) Ascension day. (b) (R. C. Ch.) The Thursday in Holy Week; Maundy Thursday.

{Holy war}, a crusade; an expedition carried on by Christians against the Saracens in the Holy Land, in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, for the possession of the holy places.

{Holy water} (Gr. & R. C. Churches), water which has been blessed by the priest for sacred purposes.

{Holy-water stoup}, the stone stoup or font placed near the entrance of a church, as a receptacle for holy water.

{Holy Week} (Eccl.), the week before Easter, in which the passion of our Savior is commemorated.

{Holy writ}, the sacred Scriptures. `` Word of holy writ.'' --Wordsworth. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Holy Alliance — • The Emperor Francis I of Austria, King Frederick William III of Prussia, and the Tsar Alexander I of Russia, signed a treaty on 26 September, 1815, by which they united in a Holy Alliance. Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Holy… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Holy Alliance — n. an alliance formed in 1815 by the rulers of Russia, Austria, and Prussia to suppress the democratic revolutionary movement in Europe …   English World dictionary

  • Holy Alliance — ] The Holy Alliance was a coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 at the behest of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, signed by the three powers in Vienna on September 26 1815. [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07398a.htm Holy… …   Wikipedia

  • Holy Alliance — a league formed by the principal sovereigns of Europe in 1815 with the professed object of promoting Christian brotherhood but the practical object of repressing democratic revolutions and institutions. The English and Turkish rulers and Pope… …   Universalium

  • Holy Alliance —    A compact signed by Austria, Prussia, and Russian in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. Tsar Alexander I of Russia, acting under the influence of the religious mystic, Baroness von Krüdener, drew up a document declaring that the actions of… …   Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1914

  • HOLY ALLIANCE —    an alliance of the sovereigns of Russia, Austria, and Prussia on the fall of Napoleon, professedly for conservative ends, but really for the suppression of political liberty and the maintenance of absolute power …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Holy Alliance — noun Coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 …   Wiktionary

  • Holy Alliance — Austria, Prussia, Russia (in 1815) …   Eponyms, nicknames, and geographical games

  • Holy Alliance — /hoʊli əˈlaɪəns/ (say hohlee uh luyuhns) noun a league formed by the principal sovereigns of Europe (without the pope and the rulers of Britain and Turkey) in 1815 after the fall of Napoleon, with the professed object of Christian brotherhood,… …  

  • Holy Alliance — a league formed by the principal sovereigns of Europe in 1815 with the professed object of promoting Christian brotherhood but the practical object of repressing democratic revolutions and institutions. The English and Turkish rulers and Pope… …   Useful english dictionary

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