Meaning

noun a consecrated place where sacred objects are kept

noun a shelter from danger or hardship

noun area around the altar of a church for the clergy and choir; often enclosed by a lattice or railing

originFrom Middle English seyntuarie, from Old French saintuaire, from Late Latin sanctuarium (“a sacred place, a shrine, a private cabinet, in Medieval Latin also temple, church, churchyard, cemetery, right of asylum”), from Latin sanctus (“holy, sacred”); see saint.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0