holy city
Definition
Noun: 1. A city considered sacred by a particular religion: A place of supreme religious importance, often a destination for pilgrimage. 2. A metaphorical term for Heaven: Used in religious texts and discourse to refer to the divine abode or paradise.
Usage Examples
- Literal religious sense:
- Jerusalem is a holy city for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
- Pilgrims travel to the holy city of Mecca every year.
- Metaphorical sense (Heaven):
- In his sermon, the pastor described the afterlife as entering the holy city.
- The poet wrote of a distant, shining holy city beyond the clouds.
Advanced Usage
- "the Holy City" (capitalized): Often used as a specific title or epithet for a city, most commonly Jerusalem.
- Christians celebrate Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus's entry into the Holy City.
- Used in allegorical literature to symbolize spiritual purity, salvation, or ultimate peace.
- In the allegory, the hero's journey ended when he glimpsed the gates of the holy city.
Variants and Related Words
- Holy place (n): A general term for any location, not necessarily a city, considered sacred.
- The ancient temple is a holy place for local worshippers.
- Sacred city (n): A near-synonymous phrase.
- Celestial City (n): A specific metaphorical term for Heaven, famously used in John Bunyan's .
Synonyms
- Sacred city
- City of God (theological term)
- Zion (specifically in Jewish and Christian contexts)
Related Phrases
- Promised Land: Often used in a similar metaphorical context to denote a divinely granted place of peace and prosperity.
- Heavenly Jerusalem: A theological concept blending the ideas of the earthly holy city and the heavenly abode.
Related Idioms
- A city upon a hill: An idiom (originally from the Bible) meaning a community observed by all as an example of virtue, sometimes carrying religious connotations.
- The settlers saw their new colony as a holy city, a city upon a hill for the world to see.
Noun
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phrases used to refer to Heaven
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the Celestial City was Christian's goal in Bunyan's `Pilgrim's Progress'
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