sign of the cross

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

A calque translation of Latin signum crucis.

Pronunciation

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Noun

sign of the cross (plural signs of the cross)

  1. (Christianity) A gesture of the hand moving over the front of one's body, or over an object, in the shape of a cross made as part of ritual or to invoke divine protection.
    • 1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 122:
      If a morsel of food fell off your plate, the advice of one contemporary document was to pick it up, make the sign of the cross over it, season it well - and then eat it. The sign of the cross was the antiseptic of the year 1000.

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