Other forms: consecrated, consecrating, consecrates
To consecrate is to set something apart as sacred. Consecrate the ground, a consecrated church, consecrate a bishop.
The setting apart is the whole act: consecrated ground is legally and ritually distinct, and deconsecrating a church is a formal step before it can be sold. It is also used of people, in the making of bishops. Note that the Latin means to make sacred, from sacer.
1verbconsecrateTo set something apart as sacred.
“The bishop consecrated the new church in a special service.”
consecrate is a making sacred.
Latin consecrare is con plus sacrare, to make sacred, from sacer. Sacred, sacrifice and saint come from the same holiness.
Middle English
consecraten
English, today
consecrate
From Middle English consecraten. First attested in the late 14th century, in Middle English; Middle English consecraten (“to dedicate, consecrate (an altar, church); to ordain (a bishop), anoint (a king, a pope); to devote one to religious life”), from consecrat(e) + -en, borrowed from Latin cōnsecrātus, perfect passive participle of cōnsecrāre, see -ate.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA