▪ the inmost recess or holiest part of a temple or church: "the inner sanctuary where the reliquary was kept"
▪ the part of the chancel of a church containing the high altar.
Word OriginMiddle English (in sanctuary (sense 3)): from Old French sanctuaire, from Latin sanctuarium, from sanctus ‘holy’. Early use in reference to a church or other sacred place where a fugitive was immune, by the law of the medieval Church, from arrest, gave rise to sanctuary (sense 1, sense 2).