sanctify

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
sanctify /ˈsaŋ(k)tɪfʌɪ/

▶verb (sanctifies, sanctifying, sanctified)

• 1 consecrate.

• 2 make legitimate or binding by religious sanction.

• 3 free from sin.

– derivatives
sanctification noun,
sanctifier noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. saintifier (influenced later by sanctifier), from eccles. L. sanctificare, from L. sanctus ‘holy’.